presented  to  the 

LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  •  SAN  DIF.GO 

by 
FRIENDS  OF  THE  LIBRARY 


Mrs.  Marcela  Cornish 

donor 


WORKS  OF  FREDERICK  SCHILLER. 

CAMBRIDGE   EDITION. -VOL.  I. 


THE 


HISTORY 


OF  THE 


THIRTY  YEARS-  WAR  IN  GERMANY. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


Boston: 

S.  E.  CASSINO  AND   COMPANY. 

1884. 


PREFACE  TO  THE   EDITION. 


THE  present  is  the  best  collected  edition  of  the  important 
works  of  Schiller  which  is  accessible  to  readers  in  the 
English  language.  Detached  poems  or  dramas  have  been 
translated  at  various  times  since  the  first  publication  of 
the  original  works  ;  and  in  several  instances  these  versions 
have  been  incorporated  into  this  collection. 

Schiller  was  not  less  efficiently  qualified  by  nature  for 
an  historian  than  for  a  dramatist.  He  was  formed  to 
excel  in  all  departments  of  literature,  and  the  admirable 
lucidity  of  style  and  soundness  and  impartiality  of  judg- 
ment displayed  in  his  historical  writings  will  not  easily 
be  surpassed,  and  will  always  recommend  them  as  popular 
expositions  of  the  periods  of  which  they  treat. 

Since  the  publication  of  the  first  English  edition  many 
corrections  and  improvements  have  been  made,  with  a 
view  to  rendering  it  as  acceptable  as  possible  to  English 
readers  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  disadvantages  of  a 
translation,  the  publishers  feel  sure  that  Schiller  will  be 
heartily  acceptable  to  English  readers,  and  that  the 
influence  of  his  writings  will  continue  to  increase. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  REVOLT  OF  THE  NETHERLANDS 
was  translated  by  Lieut.  E.  B.  Eastwick,  and  originally 
published  abroad  for  students'  use.  But  this  translation 
was  too  strictly  literal  for  general  readers.  It  has  been 
carefully  revised,  and  some  portions  have  been  entirely 
rewritten  by  the  Rev.  A.  J.  W.  Morrison,  who  also  has  so 
ably  translated  the  HISTORY  OF  THE  THIRTY  YEARS' 

WAB. 

iii 


IV  PREFACE    TO    THE    EDITION. 

THE  CAMP  OF  WALLENSTEIN  was  translated  by  Mr. 
James  Churchill,  and  first  appeared  in  "  Frazer's  Maga- 
zine." It  is  an  exceedingly  happy  version  of  what  has 
always  been  deemed  the  most  untranslatable  of  Schiller's 
works. 

THE  PICCOLOMINI  and  DEATEI  OF  WALLENSTEIN  are 
the  admirable  version  of  S.  T.  Coleridge,  completed  by  the 
addition  of  all  those  passages  which  he  has  omitted,  and 
by  a  restoration  of  Schiller's  own  arrangement  of  the  acts 
and  scenes.  It  is  said,  in  defence  of  the  variations  which 
exist  between  the  German  original  and  the  version  given 
by  Coleridge,  that  he  translated  from  a  prompter's  copy 
in  manuscript,  before  the  drama  had  been  printed,  and 
that  Schiller  himself  subsequently  altered  it,  by  omitting 
some  passages,  adding  others,  and  even  engrafting  several 
of  Coleridge's  adaptations. 

WILHELM  TELL  is  translated  by  Theodore  Martin, 
Esq.,  whose  well-known  position  as  a  writer,  and  whose 
special  acquaintance  with  German  literature  make  any 
recommendation  superfluous. 

DON  CARLOS  is  translated  by  R.  D.  Boylan,  Esq.,  and,  in 
the  opinion  of  competent  judges,  the  version  is  eminently 
successful.  Mr.  Theodore  Martin  kindly  gave  some  assist- 
ance, and,  it  is  but  justice  to  state,  has  enhanced  the  value 
of  the  work  by  his  judicious  suggestions. 

The  translation  of  MARY  STUART  is  that  by  the  late 
Joseph  Mellish,  who  appears  to  have  been  on  terms  of 
intimate  friendship  with  Schiller.  His  version  was  made 
from  the  prompter's  copy,  before  the  play  was  published, 
and,  like  Coleridge's  Wallenstein,  contains  many  passages 
not  found  in  the  printed  edition.  These  are  distinguished 
by  brackets.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Mellish  omitted 
many  passages  which  now  form  part  of  the  printed  drama, 
all  of  which  are  now  added.  The  translation,  as  a  whole, 


PREFACE    TO    THE    EDITION.  V 

stands  out  from  similar  works  of  the  time  (1800)  in  almost 
as  marked  a  degree  as  Coleridge's  Wallenstein,  and  some 
passages  exhibit  powers  of  a  high  order;  a  few,  however, 
especially  in  the  earlier  scenes,  seemed  capable'of  improve- 
ment, and  these  have  been  revised,  but,  in  deference  to  the 
translator,  with  a  sparing  hand. 

THE  MAID  OF  ORLEANS  is  contributed  by  Miss  Anna 
Swanwick,  whose  translation  of  Faust  has  since  become 
well  known.  It  has  been  cai-efully  revised,  and  is  now, 
for  the  first  time,  published  complete. 

THE  BRIDE  OF  MESSINA,  which  has  been  regarded  as 
the  poetical  masterpiece  of  Schiller,  and,  perhaps  of  all  his 
works,  presents  the  greatest  difficulties  to  the  translator, 
is  rendered  by  A.  Lodge,  Esq.,  M.  A.  This  version,  on  its 
first  publication  in  England,  a  few  years  ago,  was  received 
with  deserved  eulogy  by  distinguished  critics.  To  the 
present  edition  has  been  prefixed  Schiller's  Essay  on  the 
Use  of  the  Chorus  in  Tragedy,  in  which  the  author's 
favorite  theory  of  the  "  Ideal  of  Art "  is  enforced  with 
great  ingenuity  and  eloquence. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

BOOK  I 5 

II "...      85 

177 

.       .       .        .271 

.    319 


HISTORY 


OF  THE 


THIRTY  TEARS'  WAR  IN  GERMANY. 


BOOK  I. 

FROM  the  beginning  of  the  religious  wars  in  Germany  to 
the  peace  of  Munster  scarcely  anything  great  or  remark- 
able occurred  in  the  political  world  of  Europe  in  which  the 
Reformation  had  not  an  important  share.  All  the  events 
of  this  period,  if  they  did  not  originate  in,  soon  became 
mixed  up  with,  the  question  of  religion,  and  no  state  was 
either  too  great  or  too  little,  to  feel,  directly  or  indirectly, 
more  or  less  of  its  influence. 

Against  the  reformed  doctrine  and  its  adherents  the 
House  of  Austria  directed,  almost  exclusively,  the  whole 
of  its  immense  political  power.  In  France  the  Reforma- 
tion had  enkindled  a  civil  war  which,  under  four  stormy 
reigns,  shook  the  kingdom  to  its  foundations,  brought 
foreign  armies  into  the  heart  of  the  country,  and  for  half 
a  century  rendered  it  the  scene  of  the  most  mournful  dis- 
orders. It  was  the  Reformation,  too,  that  rendered  the 
Spanish  yoke  intolerable  to  the  Flemings,  and  awakened 
in  them  both  the  desire  and  the  courage  to  throw  off  its 
fetters,  while  it  also  principally  furnished  them  with  the 
means  of  their  emancipation.  And  as  to  England,  all  the 
evils  with  which  Philip  II.  threatened  Elizabeth  were 
mainly  intended  in  revenge  for  her  having  taken  his 
Protestant  subjects  under  her  protection,  and  placing 
herself  at  the  head  of  a  religious  party  which  it  was  his 
aim  and  endeavor  to  extirpate.  In  Germany  the  schisms 
in  the  church  produced  also  a  lasting  political  schism, 
which  made  that  country  for  more  than  a  century  the 
theati'e  of  confusion,  but  at  the  same  time  threw  up  a 


b  THE    THIRTY   YEARS     WAR. 

firm  barrier  against  political  oppression.  It  was,  too,  the 
Reformation  principally  that  first  drew  the  northern 
powers,  Denmark  and  Sweden,  into  the  political  system 
of  Europe ;  and  while,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Protestant 
League  was  strengthened  by  their  adhesion,  it,  on  the 
other,  was  indispensable  to  their  interests.  States  which 
hitherto  scarcely  concerned  themselves  with  one  another's 
existence,  acquired  through  the  Reformation  an  attractive 
centre  of  interest,  and  began  to  be  united  by  new  political 
sympathies.  And  as  through  its  influence  new  relations 
sprang  up  between  citizen  and  citizen,  and  between  rulers 
and  subjects,  so  also  entire  states  were  forced  by  it  into 
new  relative  positions.  Thus,  by  a  strange  course  of 
events,  religious  disputes  were  the  means  of  cementing  a 
closer  union  among  the  nations  of  Europe. 

Fearful,  indeed,  and  destructive  was  the  first  move- 
ment in  which  this  general  political  sympathy  announced 
itself ;  a  desolating  war  of  thirty  years,  which,  from  the 
interior  of  Bohemia  to  the  mouth  of  the  Scheldt,  and 
from  the  banks  of  the  Po  to  the  coasts  of  the  Baltic,  devas- 
tated whole  countries,  destroyed  harvests,  and  reduced 
towns  and  villages  to  ashes ;  which  opened  a  grave  for 
many  thousand  combatants,  and  for  half  a  century  smoth- 
ered the  glimmering  sparks  of  civilization  in  Germany, 
and  threw  back  the  improving  manners  of  the  country 
into  their  pristine  barbarity  and  wildness.  Yet  out  of 
this  fearful  war  Europe  came  forth  free  and  independent. 
In  it  she  first  learned  to  recognize  herself  as  a  community 
of  nations ;  and  this  intercommunion  of  states,  which  origi- 
nated in  the  thirty  years'  war,  may  alone  be  sufficient  to 
reconcile  the  philosopher  to  its  horrors.  The  hand  of 
industry  has  slowly  but  gradually  effaced  the  traces  of 
its  ravages,  while  its  beneficent  influence  still  survives  ; 
and  this  general  sympathy  among  the  states  of  Europe, 
which  grew  out  of  the  troubles  in  Bohemia,  is  our  guaran- 
tee for  the  continuance  of  that  peace  which  was  the  result 
of  the  war.  As  the  sparks  of  destruction  found  their  way 
from  the  interior  of  Bohemia,  Moravia,  and  Austria,  to 
kindle  Germany,  France,  and  the  half  of  Europe,  so  also 
will  the  torch  of  civilization  make  a  path  for  itself  from 
the  latter  to  enlighten  the  former  countries. 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  7 

All  this  was  effected  by  religion.  Religion  alone  could 
have  rendered  possible  all  that  was  accomplished,  but  it 
was  far  from  being  the  sole  motive  of  the  war.  Had  not 
private  advantages  and  state  interests  been  closely  con- 
nected with  it,  vain  and  powerless  would  have  been  the 
arguments  of  theologians  ;  and  the  cry  of  the  people  would 
never  have  met  with  princes  so  willing  to  espouse  their 
cause,  nor  the  new  doctrines  have  found  such  numerous, 
brave,  and  persevering  champions.  The  Reformation  is 
undoubtedly  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  the  invincible 
power  of  truth,  or  of  opinions  which  were  held  as  such. 
The  abuses  in  the  old  church,  the  absurdity  of  many  of 
its  dogmas,  the  extravagance  of  its  requisitions,  necessa- 
rily revolted  the  tempers  of  men,  already  half-won  with 
the  promise  of  a  better  light,  and  favorably  disposed  them 
towards  the  new  doctrines.  The  charm  of  independence, 
the  rich  plunder  of  monastic  institutions,  made  the  Re- 
formation attractive  in  the  eyes  of  princes,  and  tended 
not  a  little  to  strengthen  their  inward  convictions. 
Nothing,  however,  but  political  considerations  could  have 
driven  them  to  espouse  it.  Had  not  Charles  V.,  in  the 
intoxication  of  success,  made  an  attempt  on  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  German  States,  a  Protestant  league 
would  scarcely  have  rushed  to  arms  in  defence  of  freedom 
of  belief;  but  for  the  ambition  of  the  Guises  the  Calvin- 
ists  in  France  would  never  have  beheld  a  Conde  or  a 
Coligny  at  their  head.  Without  the  exaction  of  the 
tenth  and  the  twentieth  penny,  the  See  of  Rome  had 
never  lost  the  United  Netherlands.  Princes  fought  in 
self-defence  or  for  aggrandizement,  while  religious  en- 
thusiasm recruited  their  armies  and  opened  to  them  the 
treasures  of  their  subjects.  Of  the  multitude  who  flocked 
to  their  standards,  such  as  were  not  lured  by  the  hope  of 
plunder  imagined  they  were  fighting  for  the  truth,  while 
in  fact  they  were  shedding  their  blood  for  the  personal 
objects  of  their  princes. 

And  well  was  it  for  the  people  that,  on  this  occasion,  their 
interests  coincided  with  those  of  their  princes.  To  this 
coincidence  alone  were  they  indebted  for  their  deliverance 
from  popery.  Well  was  it  also  for  the  rulers  that  the 
subject  contended  too  for  his  own  cause,  while  he  was  fight- 


8  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

ing  their  battles.  Fortunately  at  this  date  no  European 
sovereign  was  so  absolute  as  to  be  able,  in  the  pursuit  of 
his  political  designs,  to  dispense  with  the  good-will  of  his 
subjects.  Yet  how  difficult  was  it  to  gain  and  to  set  to 
work  this  good-will !  The  most  impressive  arguments 
drawn  from  reasons  of  state  fall  powerless  on  the  ear  of 
the  subject,  who  seldom  understands,  and  still  more  rarely 
is  interested  in  them.  In  such  circumstances,  the  only 
course  open  to  a  prudent  prince  is  to  connect  the  interests 
of  the  cabinet  with  some  one  that  sits  nearer  to  the 
people's  heart,  if  such  exists,  or  if  not,  to  create  it. 

In  such  a  position  stood  a  greater  part  of  those  princes 
who  embraced  the  cause  of  the  Reformation .  By  a  strange 
concatenation  of  events  the  divisions  of  the  Church  were 
associated  with  two  circumstances,  without  which,  in  all 
probability,  they  would  have  had  a  very  different  conclu- 
sion. These  were  the  increasing  power  of  the  House  of 
Austria,  which  threatened  the  liberties  of  Europe,  and  its 
active  zeal  for  the  old  religion.  The  first  aroused  the 
princes,  while  the  second  armed  the  people. 

The  abolition  of  a  foreign  jurisdiction  within  their 
own  territories,  the  supremacy  in  ecclesiastical  matters, 
the  stopping  of  the  treasure  which  had  so  long  flowed  to 
Rome,  the  rich  plunder  of  religious  foundations,  were 
tempting  advantages  to  every  sovereign.  Why,  then, 
it  may  be  asked,  did  they  not  operate  with  equal  force 
upon  the  princes  of  the  House  of  Austria?  What  pre- 
vented this  house,  particularly  in  its  German  branch,  from 
yielding  to  the  pressing  demands  of  so  many  of  its  sub- 
jects, and,  after  the  example  of  other  princes,  enriching 
itself  at  the  expense  of  a  defenceless  clergy  ?  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  credit  that  a  belief  in  the  infallibility  of  the 
Romish  Church  had  any  greater  influence  on  the  pious 
adherence  of  this  house  than  the  opposite  conviction  had 
on  the  revolt  of  the  Protestant  princes.  In  fact,  several 
circumstances  combined  to  make  the  Austrian  princes 
zealous  supporters  of  popery.  Spain  and  Italy,  from 
which  Austria  derived  its  principal  strength,  were  still 
devoted  to  the  See  of  Rome  with  that  blind  obedience 
which,  ever  since  the  days  of  the  Gothic  dynasty,  had 
been  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  Spaniard.  The 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS     WAR.  9 

slightest  approximation  in  a  Spanish  prince  to  the  ob- 
noxious tenets  of  Luther  and  Calvin  would  have  alienated 
forever  the  affections  of  his  subjects,  and  a  defection 
from  the  Pope  would  have  cost  him  the  kingdom.  A 
Spanish  prince  had  no  alternative  but  orthodoxy  or  abdi- 
cation. The  same  restraint  was  imposed  upon  Austria 
by  her  Italian  dominions,  which  she  was  obliged  to  treat, 
if  possible,  with  even  greater  indulgence ;  impatient  as 
they  naturally  were  of  a  foreign  yoke,  and  possessing  also 
ready  means  of  shaking  it  off.  In  regard  to  the  latter 
provinces,  moreover,  the  rival  pretensions  of  France,  and 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Pope,  were  motives  sufficient  to 
prevent  the  Emperor  from  declaring  in  favor  of  a  party 
which  strove  to  annihilate  the  papal  see,  and  also  to  in- 
duce him  to  show  the  most  active  zeal  in  behalf  of  the 
old  religion.  These  general  considerations,  which  must 
have  been  equally  weighty  with  every  Spanish  monarch, 
were,  in  the  particular  case  of  Charles  V.,  still  further 
enforced  by  peculiar  and  personal  motives.  In  Italy  this 
monarch  had  a  formidable  rival  in  the  King  of  France, 
under  whose  protection  that  country  might  throw  itself 
the  instant  that  Charles  should  incur  the  slightest  sus- 
picion of  heresy.  Distrust  on  the  pai-t  of  the  Roman 
Catholics,  and  a  rupture  with  the  church,  would  have 
been  fatal  also  to  many  of  his  most  cherished  designs. 
Moreover,  when  Charles  was  first  called  upon  to  make 
his  election  between  the  two  parties,  the  new  doctrine  had 
not  yet  attained  to  a  full  and  commanding  influence,  and 
there  still  subsisted  a  prospect  of  its  reconciliation  with 
the  old.  In  his  son  and  successor,  Philip  II.,  a  monastic 
education  combined  with  a  gloomy  and  despotic 
disposition  to  generate  an  unmitigated  hostility  to  all  in- 
novations in  religion;  a  feeling  which  the  thought  that  his 
most  formidable  political  opponents  were  also  the  ene- 
mies of  his  faith  was  not  calculated  to  weaken.  As  his 
European  possessions,  scattered  as  they  were  over  so 
many  countries,  were  on  all  sides  exposed  to  the  seduc- 
tions of  foreign  opinions,  the  progress  of  the  Reformation 
in  other  quarters  could  not  well  be  a  matter  of  indiffer- 
ence to  him.  His  immediate  interests,  therefore,  urged 
him  to  attach  himself  devotedly  to  the  old  church,  in 


10  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

order  to  close  up  the  sources  of  the  heretical  contagion. 
Thus  circumstances  naturally  placed  this  prince  at  the 
head  of  the  league  which  the  Roman  Catholics  formed 
against  the  Reformers.  The  principles  which  had  actu- 
ated the  long  and  active  reigns  of  Charles  V.  and  Philip 
II.  remained  a  law  for  their  successors ;  and  the  more 
the  breach  in  the  church  widened  the  firmer  became 
the  attachment  of  the  Spaniards  to  Roman  Catholicism. 

The  German  line  of  the  House  of  Austria  was  appar- 
ently more  unfettered;  but  in  reality,  though  free  from 
many  of  these  restraints,  it  was  yet  confined  by  others. 
The  possession  of  the  imperial  throne  —  a  dignity  it  was 
impossible  for  a  Protestant  to  hold  (for  with  what  con- 
sistency could  an  apostate  from  the  Romish  Church  wear 
the  crown  of  a  Roman  Emperor?)  bound  the  successors 
of  Ferdinand  I.  to  the  See  of  Rome.  Ferdinand  himself 
was,  from  conscientious  motives,  heartily  attached  to  it. 
Besides,  the  German  princes  of  the  House  of  Austria  were 
not  powerful  enough  to  dispense  with  the  support  of  Spain, 
which,  however,  they  would  have  forfeited  by  the  least 
show  of  leaning  towards  the  new  doctrines.  The  impe- 
rial dignity,  also,  required  them  to  j (reserve  the  existing 
political  system  of  Germany,  with  which  the  maintenance 
of  their  owrn  authority  was  closely  bound  up,  but  which 
it  was  the  aim  of  the  Protestant  League  to  destroy.  If 
to  these  grounds  we  add  the  indifference  of  the  Protes- 
tants to  the  Emperor's  necessities  and  to  the  common 
dangers  of  the  empire,  their  encroachments  on  the  tem- 
poralities of  the  church,  and  their  aggressive  violence 
when  they  became  conscious  of  their  own  power,  we  can 
easily  conceive  how  so  many  concurring  motives  must 
have  determined  the  emperors  to  the  side  of  popery,  and 
how  their  own  interests  came  to  be  intimately  inter- 
woven with  those  of  the  Romish  Church.  As  its  fate 
seemed  to  depend  altogether  on  the  part  taken  by  Austria, 
the  princes  of  this  house  came  to  be  regarded  by  all  Eu- 
rope as  the  pillars  of  popery.  The  hatred,  therefore, 
which  the  Protestants  bore  against  the  latter  was  turned 
exclusively  upon  Austria;  and  the  cause  became  grad- 
ually confounded  with  its  protector. 

But  this  irreconcilable  enemy  of  the   Reformation  — 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  11 

the  House  of  Austria  —  by  its  ambitious  projects  and 
the  overwhelming  force  which  it  could  bring  to  their  sup- 
port, endangered,  in  no  small  degree,  the  freedom  of  Eu- 
rope, and  more  especially  of  the  German  States.  This 
circumstance  could  not  fail  to  rouse  the  latter  from  their 
security,  and  to  render  them  vigilant  in  self-defence. 
Their  ordinary  resources  were  quite  insufficient  to  resist 
so  formidable  a  power.  Extraordinary  exertions  were 
required  from  their  subjects  ;  and  when  even  these  proved 
far  from  adequate,  they  had  recourse  to  foreign  assist- 
ance ;  and,  by  means  of  a  common  league,  they  endeav- 
ored to  oppose  a  power  which,  singly,  they  were  unable 
to  withstand. 

But  the  strong  political  inducements  which  the  German 
princes  had  to  resist  the  pretensions  of  the  House  of 
Austria,  naturally,  did  not  extend  to  their  subjects.  It  is 
only  immediate  advantages  or  immediate  evils  that  set 
the  people  in  action,  and  for  these  a  sound  policy  cannot 
wait.  Ill  then  would  it  have  fared  with  these  princes  if 
by  good  fortune  another  effectual  motive  had  not  offered 
itself,  which  roused  the  passions  of  the  people,  and  kindled 
in  them  an  enthusiasm  which  might  be  directed  against  the 
political  danger,  as  having  with  it  a  common  cause  of  alarm. 

This  motive  was  their  avowed  hatred  of  the  religion 
which  Austria  protected,  and  their  enthusiastic  attachment 
to  a  doctrine  which  that  house  was  endeavoring  to  extir- 
pate by  fire  and  sword.  Their  attachment  was  ardent, 
their  hatred  invincible.  Religious  fanaticism  anticipates 
even  the  remotest  dangers.  Enthusiasm  never  calculates 
its  sacrifices.  What  the  most  pressing  danger  of  the  state 
could  not  gain  from  the  citizens  was  effected  by  religious 
zeal.  For  the  state,  or  for  the  prince,  few  would  have 
drawn  the  sword  ;  but  for  religion  the  merchant,  the 
artist,  the  peasant,  all  cheerfully  flew  to  arms.  For  the 
state  or  for  the" prince  even  the  smallest  additional  impost 
would  have  been  avoided ;  but  for  religion  the  people 
readily  staked  at  once  life,  fortune,  and  all  earthly  hopes. 
It  trebled  the  contributions  which  flowed  into  the  ex- 
chequer of  the  princes,  and  the  armies  which  marched  to 
the  field ;  and,  in  the  ardent  excitement  produced  in  all 
minds  by  the  peril  to  which  their  faith  was  exposed,  the 


12  THE  THIRTY   TEAKS*   WAR. 

subject  felt  not  the  pressure  of  those  burdens  and  priva- 
tions under  which,  in  cooler  moments,  he  would  have  sunk 
exhausted.  The  terrors  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  and 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew's,  procured  for  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  the  Admiral  Coligny,  the  British  Queen 
Elizabeth,  and  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany,  sup- 
plies of  men  and  money  from  their  subjects  to  a  degree 
which  at  present  is  inconceivable. 

But,  with  all  their  exertions,  they  would  have  effected 
little  against  a  power  which  was  an  overmatch  for  any 
single  adversary,  however  powerful.  At  this  period  of 
imperfect  policy  accidental  circumstances  alone  could 
determine  distant  states  to  afford  one  another  a  mutual 
support.  The  differences  of  government,  of  laws,  of 
language,  of  manners,  and  of  character,  which  hitherto 
had  kept  whole  nations  and  countries  as  it  were  insulated, 
and  raised  a  lasting  barrier  between  them,  rendered  one 
state  insensible  to  the  distresses  of  another,  save  where 
national  jealousy  could  indulge  a  malicious  joy  at  the 
reverses  of  a  rival.  This  barrier  the  Reformation  de- 
stroyed. An  interest  more  intense  and  more  immediate 
than  national  aggrandizement  or  patriotism,  and  entirely 
independent  of  private  utility,  began  to  animate  whole 
states  and  individual  citizens;  an  interest  capable  of  uniting 
numerous  and  distant  nations,  even  while  it  frequently 
lost  its  force  among  the  subjects  of  the  same  government. 
With  the  inhabitants  of  Geneva,  for  instance,  of  England, 
of  Germany,  or  of  Holland,  the  French  Calvinist  possessed 
a  common  point  of  union  which  he  had  not  with  his  own 
countrymen.  Thus,  in  one  important  particular,  he  ceased 
to  be  the  citizen  of  a  single  state,  and  to  confine  his  views 
and  sympathies  to  his  own  country  alone.  The 
sphere  of  his  views  became  enlarged.  He  began  to 
calculate  his  own  fate  from  that  of  other  nations  of  the 
same  religious  profession,  and  to  make  their  cause  his 
own.  Now  for  the  first  time  did  princes  venture  to 
bring  the  affairs  of  other  countries  before  their  own 
councils ;  for  the  first  time  could  they  hope  for  a  willing 
ear  to  their  own  necessities,  and  prompt  assistance  from 
others.  Foreign  affairs  had  now  become  a  matter  of 
domestic  policy,  and  that  aid  was  readily  granted  to  the 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  13 

religious  confederate  which  would  have  been  denied  to 
the  mere  neighbor,  and  still  more  to  the  distant  stranger. 
The  inhabitant  of  the  Palatinate  leaves  his  native  fields  to 
fight  side  by  side  with  his  religious  associate  of  France, 
against  the  common  enemy  of  their  faith.  The  Huguenot 
draws  his  sword  against  the  country  which  persecutes 
him,  and  sheds  his  blood  in  defence  of  the  liberties  of 
Holland.  Swiss  is  arrayed  against  Swiss;  German 
against  German,  to  determine,  on  the  banks  of  the  Loire 
and  the  Seine,  the  succession  of  the  French  crown.  The 
Dane  crosses  the  Eider,  and  the  Swede  the  Baltic,  to 
break  the  chains  which  are  forged  for  Germany. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  what  would  have  been  the  fate  of 
the  Reformation,  and  the  liberties  of  the  empire,  had  not 
the  formidable  power  of  Austria  declared  against  them. 
This,  however,  appears  certain,  that  nothing  so  com- 
pletely damped  the  Austrian  hopes  of  universal  monarchy 
as  the  obstinate  war  which  they  had  to  wage  against  the 
new  religious  opinions.  Under  no  other  circumstances 
could  the  weaker  princes  have  roused  their  subjects  to 
such  extraordinary  exertions  against  the  ambition  of 
Austria,  or  the  states  themselves  have  united  so  closely 
against  the  common  enemy. 

The  power  of  Austria  never  stood  higher  than  after 
the  victory  which  Charles  V.  gained  over  the  Germans  at 
Muhlberg.  With  the  treaty  of  Smalcalde  the  freedom  of 
Germany  lay,  as  it  seemed,  prostrate  forever;  but  it 
revived  under  Maurice  of  Saxony,  once  its  most  formid- 
able enemy.  All  the  fruits  of  the  victory  of  Muhlberg 
were  lost  again  in  the  Congress  of  Passau  and  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg ;  and  every  scheme  of  civil  and  religious  oppres- 
sion terminated  in  the  concessions  of  an  equitable  peace. 

The  Diet  of  Augsburg  divided  Germany  into  two 
religious  and  two  political  parties,  by  recognizing  the 
independent  rights  and  existence  of  both.  Hitherto  the 
Protestants  had  been  looked  on  as  rebels  ;  they  were 
henceforth  to  be  regarded  as  brethren  —  not,  indeed, 
through  affection,  but  necessity.  By  the  Interim,*  the 

*  A  system  of  Theology,  so  called,  prepared  by  order  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.  for  the  use  of  Germany,  to  reconcile  the  differences  between  the 
Roman  Catholics  and  the  Lutherans,  which,  however,  was  rejected  by  both 
parties. —  ED. 


14  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

Confession  of  Augsburg  was  allowed  temporarily  to  take 
a  si'sterly  place  alongside  of  the  olden  religion,  though 
only  as  a  tolerated  neighbor.  •  To  every  secular  state  was 
conceded  the  right  of  establishing  the  religion  it  acknowl- 
edged as  supreme  and  exclusive  within  its  own  territories, 
and  of  forbidding  the  open  profession  of  its  rival.  Subjects 
were  to  be  free  to  quit  a  country  where  their  own  religion 
was  not  tolerated.  The  doctrines  of  Luther  for  the  first 
time  received  a  positive  sanction ;  and  if  they  were 
trampled  under  foot  in  Bavaria  and  Austria  they  pre- 
dominated in  Saxony  and  Thur.ingia.  But  the  sovereigns 
alone  were  to  determine  what  form  of  religion  should 
prevail  within  their  territories;  the  feelings  of  subjects 
who  had  "no  representatives  in  the  Diet  were  little  at- 
tended to  in  the  pacification.  In  the  ecclesiastical 
territories,  indeed,  where  the  unreformed  religion  enjoyed 
an  undisputed  supremacy,  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religion  \vas  obtained  for  all  who  had  previously  em- 
braced the  Protestant  doctrines;  but  this  indulgence 
rested  only  on  the  personal  guarantee  of  Ferdinand,  King 
of  the  Romans,  by  whose  endeavors  chiefly  this  peace 
was  effected ;  a  guarantee,  which,  being  rejected  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  members  of  the  Diet,  and  only  inserted 
in  the  treaty  under  their  protest,  could  not  of  course  have 
the  force  of  law. 

If  it  had  been  opinions  only  that  thus  divided  the 
minds  of  men,  with  what  indifference  would  all  have 
regarded  the  division  !  But  on  these  opinions  depended 
riches,  dignities,  and  rights;  and  it  was  this  which  so 
deeply  aggravated  the  evils  of  division.  Of  two  brothers, 
as  it  were,  who  had  hitherto  enjoyed  a  paternal  inherit- 
ance in  common,  one  now  remained,  while  the  other  wr.s 
compelled  to  leave  his  father's  house,  and  hence  arose  the 
necessity  of  dividing  the  patrimony.  For  this  separa- 
tion, which  he  could  not  have  foreseen,  the  father 
had  made  no  provision.  By  the  beneficent  donations  of 
pious  ancestors  the  riches  of  the  church  had  been 
accumulating  through  a  thousand  years,  and  these 
benefactors  were  as  much  the  progenitors  of  the 
departing  brother  as  of  him  who  remained.  Was  the 
right  of  inheritance  then  to  be  limited  to  the  paternal 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  15 

house,  or  to  be  extended  to  blood  ?  The  gifts  had  been 
made  to  the  church  in  communion  with  Rome,  because  at 
that  time  no  other  existed,  —  to  the  first  born,  as  it  were, 
because  he  was  as  yet  the  only  son.  Was  then  a  right 
of  primogeniture  to  be  admitted  in  the  church,  as  in 
noble  families?  Were  the  pretensions  of  one  party  to  be 
favored  by  a  prescription  from  times  when  the  claims  of 
the  other  could  not  have  come  into  existence.  Could  the 
Lutherans  be  justly  excluded  from  these  possessions,  to 
which  the  benevolence  of  their  forefathers  had  con- 
tributed, merely  on  the  ground  that,  at  the  date  of  their 
foundation,  the  differences  between  Lutheranism  and 
Romanism  were  unknown  ?  Both  parties  have  disputed, 
and  still  dispute,  with  equal  plausibility,  on  these  points. 
Both  alike  have  found  it  difficult  to  prove  their  right. 
Law  can  be  applied  only  to  conceivable  cases,  and  per- 
haps spiritual  foundations  are  not  among  the  number  of 
these,  and  still  less  where  the  conditions  of  the  founders 
generally  extended  to  a  system  of  doctrines ;  for  how  is 
it  conceivable  that  a  permanent  endowment  should  be 
made  of  opinions  left  open  to  change? 

What  law  cannot  decide  is  usually  determined  by 
might,  and  such  was  the  case  here.  The  one  party  held 
firmly  all  that  could  no  longer  be  wrested  from  it  —  the 
other  defended  what  it  still  possessed.  All  the  bishoprics 
and  abbeys  which  had  been  secularized  before  the  peace 
remained  witli  the  Protestants  ;  but,  by  an  express  clause, 
the  unreformed  Catholics  provided  that  none  should 
thereafter  be  secularized.  Every  impropriator  of  an  ec- 
clesiastical foundation,  who  held  immediately  of  the  Em- 
pire, whether  elector,  bishop,  or  abbot,  forfeited  his  ben- 
efice and  dignity  the  moment  he  embraced  the  Protestant 
belief ;  he  was  obliged  in  that  event  instantly  to  resign 
its  emoluments,  and  the  chapter  was  to  proceed  to  a  new 
election,  exactly  as  if  his  place  had  been  vacated  by  death. 
By  this  sacred  anchor  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Reservation 
(Reservatum  JZcdesiasticimi),  which  makes  the  temporal 
existence  of  a  spiritual  prince  entirely  depend  on  his  fidel- 
ity to  the  olden  religion,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  Germany  is  still  held  fast ;  and  precarious,  indeed, 
would  be  its  situation  were  this  anchor  to  give  way. 


16  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

The  principle  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Reservation  was 
strongly  opposed  by  the  Protestants  ;  and  though  it  was 
at  last  adopted  into  the  treaty  of  peace,  its  insertion  was 
qualified  with  the  declaration,  that  parties  had  come  to 
no  final  determination  on  the  point.  Could  it  then  be 
more  binding  on  the  Protestants  than  Ferdinand's  guar- 
antee in  favor  of  Protestant  subjects  of  ecclesiastic  al 
states  was  upon  the  Roman  Catholics  ?  Thus  were  two 
important  subjects  of  dispute  left  unsettled  in  the  treaty 
of  peace,  and  by  them  the  war  was  rekindled. 

Such  was  the  position  of  things  with  regard  to  relig- 
ious toleration  and  ecclesiastical  property;  it  was  the 
game  with  regard  to  rights  and  dignities.  The  existing 
German  system  provided  only  for  one  church,  because 
one  only  was  in  existence  when  that  system  was  framed. 
The  church  had  now  divided  ;  the  Diet  had  broken  into 
two  religious  parties;  was  the  whole  system  of  the  Em- 
pire still  exclusively  to  follow  the  one?  The  emperors 
had  hitherto  been  members  of  the  Romish  Church,  be- 
cause till  now  that  religion  had  no  rival.  But  was  it  his 
connection  with  Rome  which  constituted  a  German  em- 
peror, or  was  it  not  rather  Germany  which  was  to  be  rep- 
resented in  its  head  ?  The  Protestants  were  now  spread 
over  the  whole  Empire,  and  how  could  they  justly  still 
be  represented  by  an  unbroken  line  of  Roman  Catholic 
emperors?  In  the  Imperial  Chamber  the  German  States 
judge  themselves,  for  they  elect  the  judges;  it  was  the 
very  end  of  its  institution  that  they  should  do  so,  in 
order  that  equal  justice  should  be  dispensed  to  all ;  but 
would  this  be  still  possible  if  the  representatives  of  both 
professions  were  not  equally  admissible  to  a  seat  in  the 
Chamber?  That  one  religion  only  existed  in  Germany  at 
the  time  of  its  establishment  was  accidental ;  that  no  one 
estate  should  have  the  means  of  legally  oppressing  another, 
was  the  essential  purpose  of  the  institution.  Now  this 
object  would  be  entirely  frustrated  if  one  religious  party 
were  to  have  the  exclusive  power  of  deciding  for  the 
other.  Must,  then,  the  design  be  sacrificed  because  that 
which  was  merely  accidental  had  changed?  With  great 
difficulty  the  Protestants,  at  last,  obtained  for  the  repre- 
rentatives  of  their  religion  a  place  in  the  Supreme  Council, 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  17 

but  still  there  was  far  from  being  a  perfect  equality 
of  voices.  To  this  dny  no  Protestant  prince  has  been 
raised  to  the  imperial  throne. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  equality  which  the  peace 
of  Augsburg  was  to  have  established  between  the  two 
German  churches,  the  Roman  Catholic  had  unquestionably 
still  the  advantage.  All  that  the  Lutheran  Church  gained 
by  it  was  toleration;  all  that  the  Romish  Church  con- 
ceded was  a  sacrifice  to  necessity,  not  an  offering  to 
justice.  Very  far  was  it  from  being  a  peace  between  two 
equal  powers,  but  a  truce  between  a  sovereign  and 
unconquered  rebels.  From  this  principle  all  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Roman  Catholics  against  the  Protestants  seemed 
to  flow,  and  still  continue  to  do  so.  To  join  the  reformed 
faith  was  still  a  crime,  since  it  was  to  be  visited  with  so 
severe  a  penalty  as  that  which  the  Ecclesiastical  Reserva- 
tion held  suspended  over  the  apostacy  of  the  spiritual 
princes.  Even  to  the  last  the  Romish  Church  preferred 
to  risk  the  loss  of  everything  by  force  than  voluntarily 
to  yield  the  smallest  matter  to  justice.  The  loss  was 
accidental  and  might  be  repaired ;  but  the  abandonment 
of  its  pretensions,  the  concession  of  a  single  point  to  the 
Protestants,  would  shake  the  foundations  of  the  church 
itself.  Even  in  the  treaty  of  peace  this  principle  was  not 
lost  sight  of.  Whatever  in  this  peace  was  yielded  to  the 
Protestants  was  always  under  condition.  It  was  ex- 
pressly declared  that  affairs  were  to  remain  on  the 
stipulated  footing  only  till  the  next  general  council, 
which  was  to  be  called  with  the  view  of  effecting  a 
union  between  the  two  confessions.  Then  only,  when 
this  last  attempt  should  have  failed,  was  the  religious 
treaty  to  become  valid  and  conclusive.  However  little 
hope  there  might  be  of  such  a  reconciliation,  however  little 
perhaps  the  Romanists  themselves  were  in  earnest  with  it, 
still  it  was  something  to  have  clogged  the  peace  with 
these  stipulations. 

Thus  this  religious  treaty,  which  was  to  extinguish  for- 
ever the  flames  of  civil  war,  was,  in  fact,  but  a  temporary 
truce,  extorted  by  force  and  necessity ;  not  dictated  by 
justice,  nor  emanating  from  just  notions  either  of  religion 
or  toleration.  A  religious  treaty  of  this  kind  the  Roman 


18  THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

Catholics  were  as  incapable  of  granting,  to  be  candid,  as  in 
truth  the  Lutherans  were  unqualified  to  receive.  Far  from 
evincing  a  tolerant  spirit  towards  ^the  Roman  Catholics, 
when  it  was  in  their  power,  they  even  oppressed  the  Cal- 
vinists;  who  indeed  just  as  little  deserved  toleration,  since 
they  were  unwilling  to  practise  it.  For  such  a  peace  the 
times  were  not  yet  ripe  —  the  minds  of  men  not  yet 
sufficiently  enlightened.  How  could  one  party  expect 
from  another  what  itself  was  incapable  of  performing? 
What  each  side  saved  or  gained  by  the  treaty  of 
Augsburg  it  owed  to  the  imposing  attitude  of  strength 
which  it  maintained  at  the  time  of  its  negotiation. 
What  was  won  by  force  was  to  be  maintained  also  by 
force ;  if  the  peace  was  to  be  permanent,  the  two  parties 
to  it  must  preserve  the  same  relative  positions.  The 
boundaries  of  the  two  churches  had  been  marked  out 
with  the  sword ;  with  the  sword  they  must  be  preserved, 
or  woe  to  that  party  which  should  be  first  disarmed !  A 
sad  and  fearful  prospect  for  the  tranquillity  of  Germany 
•when  peace  itself  bore  so  threatening  an  aspect. 

A  momentary  lull  now  pervaded  the  empire  ;  a  tran- 
sitory bond  of  concord  appeared  to  unite  its  scattered 
limbs  into  one  body,  so  that  for  a  time  a  feeling  also  for 
the  common  weal  returned.  But  the  division  had  pene- 
trated its  inmost  being,  and  to  restore  its  original  harmony 
was  impossible.  Carefully  as  the  treaty  of  peace  appeared 
to  have  defined  the  rights  of  both  parties,  its  interpreta- 
tion was  nevertheless  the  subject  of  many  disputes.  In 
the  heat  of  conflict  it  had  produced  a  cessation  of  hostili- 
ties; it  covered,  not  extinguished,  the  fire,  and  unsatisfied 
claims  remained  on  either  side.  The  Romanists  imagined 
they  had  lost  too  much,  the  Protestants  that  they  had 
gained  too  littte ;  and  the  treaty  which  neither  party 
could  venture  to  violate  was  interpreted  by  each  in  its 
own  favor. 

The  seizure  of  the  ecclesiastical  benefices,  the  motive 
which  had  so  strongly  tempted  the  majority  of  the 
Protestant  princes  to  embrace  the  doctrines  of  Luther, 
was  not  less  powerful  after  than  before  the  peace ;  of 
those  whose  founders  had  not  held  their  fiefs  imme- 
diately of  the  empire,  such  as  were  not  already  in  their 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  19 

possession  would  it  was  evident  soon  be  so.  The  whole 
of  Lower  Germany  was  already  secularized ;  and  if  it  were 
otherwise  in  Upper  Germany,  it  was  owing  to  the  vehe- 
ment resistance  of  the  Catholics,  who  had  there  the  pre- 
ponderance. Each  party,  where  it  was  the  most  powerful, 
oppressed  the  adherents  of  the  other ;  the  ecclesiastical 
princes  in  particular,  as  the  most  defenceless  members  of 
the  empire,  were  incessantly  tormented  by  the  ambition 
of  their  Protestant  neighbors.  Those  who  were  too 
weak  to  repel  force  by  force  took  refuge  under  the  wings 
of  justice;  and  the  complaints  of  spoliation  were  heaped 
up  against  the  Protestants  in  the  Imperial  Chamber, 
which  was  ready  enough  to  pursue  the  accused  with 
judgments,  but  found  too  little  support  to  carry  them 
into  effect.  The  peace  which  stipulated  for  complete 
religious  toleration  for  the  dignitaries  of  the  Empire,  had 
provided  also  for  the  subject,  by  enabling  him,  without 
interruption,  to  leave  the  country  in  which  the  exercise 
of  his  religion  was  prohibited.  But  from  the  wrongs 
which  the  violence  of  a  sovereign  might  inflict  on  an 
obnoxious  subject;  from  the  nameless  oppressions  by 
which  he  might  harass  and  annoy  the  emigrant;  from 
the  artful  snares  in  which  subtilty  combined  with  power 
might  enmesh  him  —  from  these  the  dead  letter  of  the 
treaty  could  afford  him  no  protection.  The  Catholic 
subject  of  Protestant  princes  complained  loudly  of 
violations  of  the  religious  peace  —  the  Lutherans  still 
more  loudly  of  the  oppression  they  experienced  under 
their  Romanist  suzerains.  The  rancor  and  animosities  of 
theologians  infused  a  poison  into  every  occurrence,  how- 
ever inconsiderable,  and  inflamed  the  minds  of  the  people. 
Happy  would  it  have  been  had  this  theological  hatred 
exhausted  its  zeal  upon  the  common  enemy,  instead  of 
venting  its  virus  on  the  adherents  of  a  kindred  faith ! 

Unanimity  amongst  the  Protestants  might,  by  preserving 
the  balance  between  the  contending  parties,  have  pro- 
longed the  peace ;  but,  as  if  to  complete  the  confusion, 
all  concord  was  quickly  broken.  The  doctrines  which 
had  been  propagated  by  Zuingli  in  Zurich,  and  by  Calvin 
in  Geneva,  soon  spread  to  Germany,  and  divided  the 
Protestants  among  theinselves,  with  little  in  unison  save 


20  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

their  common  hatred  to  popery.  The  Protestants  of  this 
date  bore  but  slight  resemblance  to  those  who,  fifty  years 
before,  drew  up  the  Confession  of  Augsburg;  and  the 
cause  of  the  change  is  to  be  sought  in  that  Confession 
itself.  It  had  prescribed  a  positive  boundary  to  the 
Protestant  faith,  before  the  newly-awakened  spirit  of- 
inquiry  had  satisfied  itself  as  to  the  limits  it  ought  to  set ; 
and  the  Protestants  seemed  unwittingly  to  have  thrown 
away  much  of  the  advantage  acquired  by  their  rejection 
of  popery.  Common  complaints  of  the  Romish  hierarchy 
and  of  ecclesiastical  abuses,  and  a  common  disapprobation 
of  its  dogmas,  formed  a  sufficient  centre  of  union  for  the 
Protestants ;  but  not  content  with  this,  they  sought  a 
rallying  point  in  the  promulgation  of  a  new  and  positive 
creed,  in  which  they  sought  to  embody  the  distinctions, 
the  privileges,  and  the  essence  of  the  church,  and  to  this 
they  referred  the  convention  entered  into  with  their 
opponents.  It  was  as  professors  of  this  creed  that  they 
had  acceded  to  the  treaty;  and  in  the  benefits  of  this 
peace  the  advocates  of  the  Confession  were  alone  entitled 
to  participate.  In  any  case,  therefore,  the  situation  of 
its  adherents  was  embarrassing.  If  a  blind  obedience 
were  yielded  to  the  dicta  of  the  Confession,  a  lasting 
bound  would  be  set  to  the  spirit  of  inquiry ;  if,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  dissented  from  the  formulae  agreed 
upon,  the  point  of  union  would  be  lost.  Unfortunately 
both  incidents  occurred,  and  the  evil  results  of  both 
were  quickly  felt.  One  party  rigorously  adhered  to  the 
original  symbol  of  faith,  and  the  other  abandoned  it,  only 
to  adopt  another  with  equal  exclusiveness. 

Nothing  could  have  furnished  the  common  enemy  a 
more  plausible  defence  of  his  cause  than  this  dissension ; 
no  spectacle  could  have  been  more  gratifying  to  him  than 
the  rancor  with  which  the  Protestants  alternately  per- 
secuted each  other.  Who  could  condemn  the  Roman 
Catholics  if  they  laughed  at  the  audacity  with  which  the 
Reformers  had  presumed  to  announce  the  only  true 
belief  ?  —  if  from  Protestants  they  borrowed  the  weapons 
against  Protestants  ?  —  if,  in  the  midst  of  this  clashing  of 
opinions,  they  held  fast  to  the  authority  of  their  own 
church,  for  which,  in  part,  there  spoke  an  honorable 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  21 

antiquity,  and  a  yet  more  honorable  plurality  of  voices. 
But  this  division  placed  the  Protestants  in  still  more 
serious  embarrassments.  As  the  covenants  of  the  treaty 
applied  only  to  the  partisans  of  the  Confession,  their 
opponents,  with  some  reason,  called  upon  them  to  explain 
who  were  to  be  recognized  as  the  adherents  of  that 
creed.  The  Lutherans  could  not,  without  offending 
conscience,  include  the  Calvinists  in  their  communion ; 
except  at  the  risk  of  converting  a  useful  friend  into  a 
dangerous  enemy,  could  they  exclude  them.  This  un- 
fortunate difference  opened  a  way  for  the  machinations 
of  the  Jesuits  to  sow  distrust  between  both  parties,  and 
to  destroy  the  unity  of  their  measures.  Fettered  by  the 
double  fear  of  their  direct  adversaries,  and  of  their 
opponents  among  themselves,  the  Protestants  lost  for- 
ever the  opportunity  of  placing  their  church  on  a  perfect 
equality  with  the  Catholic.  All  these  difficulties  would 
have  been  avoided,  and  the  defection  of  the  Calvinists 
would  not  have  prejudiced  the  common  cause,  if  the  point 
of  union  had  been  placed  simply  in  the  abandonment  of 
Romanism,  instead  of  in  the  Confession  of  Augsburg. 

But  however  divided  on  other  points,  they  concurred 
in  this  —  that  the  security  which  had  resulted  from 
equality  of  power  could  only  be  maintained  by  the 
preservation  of  that  balance.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  con- 
tinual reforms  of  one  party,  and  the  opposing  measures 
of  the  other,  kept  both  upon  the  watch,  while  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  religious  treaty  was  a  never-ending 
subject  of  dispute.  Each  party  maintained  that  every 
step  taken  by  its  opponent  was  an  infraction  of  the  peace, 
while  of  every  movement  of  its  own  it  was  asserted  that 
it  was  essential  to  its  maintenance.  Yet  all  the  measures 
of  the  Catholics  did  not,  as  their  opponents  alleged, 
proceed  from  a  spirit  of  encroachment  —  many  of  them 
were  the  necessary  precautions  of  self-defence.  The 
Protestants  had  shown  unequivocally  enough  what  the 
Romanists  might  expect  if  they  were  unfortunate  enough 
to  become  the  weaker  party.  The  greediness  of  the 
former  for  the  property  of  the  church,  gave  no  reason  to 
expect  indulgence;  —  their  bitter  hatred  left  no  hope  of 
magnanimity  or  forbearance. 


22  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR. 

But  the  Protestants,  likewise,  were  excusable  if  they, 
too,  placed  little  confidence  in  the  sincerity  of  the  Roman 
Catholics.  By  the  treacherous  and  inhuman  'treatment 
which  their  brethren  in  Spain,  France,  and  the  Nether- 
lands had  suffered  ;  by  the  disgraceful  subterfuge  of  the 
Romish  princes,  who  held  that  th.e  Pope  had  power  to 
relieve  them  from  the  obligation  of  the  most  solemn 
oaths ;  and  above  all,  by  the  detestable  maxim,  that  faith 
was  riot  to  be  kept  with  heretics,  the  Roman  Church,  in 
the  eyes  of  all  honest  men,  had  lost  its  honor.  No 
engagement,  no  oath,  however  sacred,  from  a  Roman 
Catholic,  could  satisfy  a  Protestant.  What  security 
then  could  the  religious  peace  afford,  when,  throughout 
Germany,  the  Jesuits  represented  it  as  a  measure  of 
mere  temporary  convenience,  and  in  Rome  itself  it  was 
solemnly  repudiated. 

The  General  Council,  to  which  reference  had  been 
made  in  the  treaty,  had  already  been  held  in  the  city  of 
Trent ;  but,  as  might  have  been  foreseen,  without  accom- 
modating the  religious  differences,  or  taking  a  single  step 
to  effect  such  accommodation,  arid  even  without  being 
attended  by  the  Protestants.  The  latter,  indeed,  were 
now  solemnly  excommunicated  by  it  in  the  name  of  the 
church,  whose  representative  the  Council  gave  itself  out 
to  be.  Could,  then,  a  secular  treaty,  extorted  moreover 
by  force  of  arms,  afford  them  adequate  protection  against 
the  ban  of  the  church ;  a  treaty,  too,  based  on  a  condition 
which  the  decision  of  the  Council  seemed  entirely  to  abol- 
ish ?  There  was  then  a  show  of  right  for  violating  the  peace, 
if  only  the  Romanists  possessed  the  power;  and  hence- 
forward the  Protestants  were  protected  by  nothing  but 
the  respect  for  their  formidable  array. 

Other  circumstances  combined  to  augment  this  distrust. 
Spain,  on  whose  support  the  Romanists  in  Germany 
chiefly  relied,  was  engaged  in  a  bloody  conflict  with  the 
Flemings.  By  it  the  flower  of  the  Spanish  troops  were 
drawrn  to  the  confines  of  Germany.  With  what  ease 
might  they  be  introduced  wuthin  the  empire,  if  a  decisive 
stroke  should  render  their  presence  necessary  ?  Germany 
was  at  that  time  a  magazine  of  war  for  nearly  all  the 
powers  of  Europe.  The  religious  war  had  crowded  it 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  23 

with  soldiers,  whom  the  peace  left  destitute ;  its  many 
independent  princes  found  it  easy  to  assemble  armies, 
and  afterwards,  for  the  sake  of  gain  or  the  interests  of 
party,  hire  them  out  to  other  powers.  With  German 
troops  Philip  II.  waged  war  against  the  Netherlands, 
and  with  German  troops  they  defended  themselves, 
Every  such  levy  in  Germany  was  a  subject  of  alarm  to 
the  one  party  or  the  other,  since  it  might  be  intended  for 
their  oppression.  The  arrival  of  an  ambassador,  an 
extraordinary  legate  of  the  Pope,  a  conference  of  princes, 
every  unusual  incident,  must,  it  was  thought,  be  pregnant 
with  destruction  to  some  party.  Thus,  for  nearly  half  a 
century,  stood  Germany,  her  hand  upon  the  sword ;  every 
rustle  of  a  leaf  alarmed  her. 

Ferdinand  I.,  King  of  Hungary,  and  his  excel- 
lent son,  Maximilian  II.,  held  at  this  memorable  epoch 
the  reins  of  government.  With  a  heart  full  of 
sincerity,  with  a  truly  hei'oic  patience,  had  Ferdinand 
brought  about  the  religious  peace  of  Augsburg,  and 
afterwards,  in  the  Council  of  Trent,  labored  assiduously, 
though  vainly,  at  the  ungrateful  task  of  reconciling  the 
two  religions.  Abandoned  by  his  nephew,  Philip  of 
Spain,  and  hard  pressed  both  in  Hungary  and  Transyl- 
vania by  the  victorious  armies  of  the  Turks,  it  was  not 
likely  that  this  emperor  would  entertain  the  idea  of 
violating  the  religious  peace,  and  thereby  destroying  his 
own  painful  work.  The  heavy  expenses  of  the  per- 
petually recurring  war  with  Turkey  could  not  be  defrayed 
by  the  meagre  contributions  of  his  exhausted  hereditary 
dominions.  He  stood,  therefore,  in  need  of  the  assistance 
of  the  whole  empire ;  and  the  religious  peace  alone  pre- 
served in  one  body  the  otherwise  divided  empire. 
Financial  nee  -ssities  made  the  Protestant  as  needful  to 
him  as  the  Romanist,  and  imposed  upon  him  the 
obligation  of  treating  both  parties  with  equal  justice, 
which,  amidst  so  many  contradictory  claims,  was  truly  a 
colossal  task.  Very  far,  however,  was  the  result  from 
answering  his  expectations.  His  indulgence  of  the 
Protestants  served  only  to  bring  upon  his  successors  a 
war,  which  death  saved  himself  the  mortification  of 
witnessing.  Scarcely  more  fortunate  was  his  son  Maxi- 


24  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

milian,  with  whom  perhaps  the  pressure  of  circumstances 
was  the  only  obstacle,  and  a  longer  life  perhaps  the  only 
want  to  his  establishing  the  new  religion  upon  the 
imperial  throne.  Necessity  had  taught  the  father  for- 
bearance towards  the  Protestants  —  necessity  and  justice 
dictated  the  same  course  to  the  son.  The  grandson  had 
reason  to  repent  that  he  neither  listened  to  justice  nor 
yielded  to  necessity. 

Maximilian  left  six  sons,  of  whom  the  eldest,  the  Arch- 
duke Rodolph,  inherited  his  dominions,  and  ascended 
the  imperial  throne.  The  other  brothers  were  put  off 
with  petty  appanages.  A  few  mesne  fiefs  were  held  by  a 
collateral  branch,  which  had  their  uncle,  Charles  of 
Styria,  at  its  head ;  and  even  these  were  afterwards 
under  his  son,  Ferdinand  II.,  incorporated  with  the  rest 
of  the  family  dominions.  With  this  exception,  the  whole 
of  the  imposing  power  of  Austria  was  now  wielded  by  a 
single  but  unfortunately  weak  hand. 

Rodolph  II.  was  not  devoid  of  those  virtues  which 
might  have  gained  him  the  esteem  of  mankind  had  the 
lot  of  a  private  station  fallen  to  him.  His  character  was 
mild;  he  loved  peace  and  the  sciences,  particularly 
astronomy,  natural  history,  chemistry,  and  the  study  of 
antiquities.  To  these  he  applied  with  a  passionate  zeal, 
which  at  the  very  time  when  the  critical  posture  of 
affairs  demanded  all  his  attention,  and  his  exhausted 
finances  the  most  rigid  economy,  diverted  his  attention 
from  state  affairs,  and  involved  him  in  pernicious 
expenses.  His  taste  for  astronomy  soon  lost  itself  in 
those  astrological  reveries  to  which  timid  and  melancholy 
temperaments  like  his  are  but  too  disposed.  This,  to- 
gether with  a  youth  passed  in  Spain,  opened  his  ears  to 
the  evil  counsels  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  influence  of  the 
Spanish  court,  by  which  at  last  he  was  wholly  governed. 
Ruled  by  tastes  so  little  in  accordance  with  the  dignity 
of  his  station,  and  alarmed  by  ridiculous  prophecies,  he 
withdi'evv,  after  the  Spanish  custom,  from  the  eyes  of  his 
subjects,  to  bury  himself  amidst  his  gems  and  antiques, 
or  to  make  experiments  in  his  laboratory,  while  the  most 
fatal  discords  loosened  all  the  bands  of  the  empire,  and 
the  flames  of  rebellion  began  to  burst  out  at  the  very 


THE   THIRTY   TEARS'   WAR.  25 

footsteps  of  his  throne.  All  access  to  his  person  was 
denied,  the  most  urgent  matters  were  neglected.  The 
prospect  of  the  rich  inheritance  of  Spain  was  closed 
against  him  while  he  was  trying  to  make  up  his  mind  to 
offer  his  hand  to  the  Infanta  Isabella.  A  fearful  anarchy 
threatened  the  Empire,  for,  though  without  an  heir  of  his 
own  body,  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  allow  the  election 
of  a  King  of  the  Romans.  The  Austrian  States  renounced 
their  allegiance,  Hungary  and  Transylvania  threw  off  his 
supremacy,  and  Bohemia  was  not  slow  in  following  their 
example.  The  descendant  of  the  once  so  formidable 
Charles  V.  was  in  perpetual  danger,  either  of  losing  one 
part  of  his  possessions  to  the  Turks,  or  another  to  the 
Protestants,  and  of  sinking  beyond  redemption  under  the 
formidable  coalition  which  a  great  monarch  of  Europe 
had  formed  against  him.  The  events  which  now  took 
place  in  the  interior  of  Germany  were  such  as  usually 
happened  when  either  the  throne  was  without  an  cmj  eror 
or  the  emperor  without  a  sense  of  his  imperial  dignity. 
Outraged  or  abandoned  by  their  head, "the  states  of  the 
empire  were  left  to  help  themselves;  and  alliances 
among  themselves  must  supply  the  defective  authority  of 
the  emperor.  Germany  was  divided  into  two  leagues, 
which  stood  in  arms  arrayed  against  each  other:  between 
both,  Rodolph,  the  despised  opponent  of  the  one,  and  the 
impotent  protector  of  the  other,  remained  irresolute  and 
useless,  equally  unable  to  destroy  the  former  or  to  com- 
mand the  latter.  What  had  the  Empire  to  look  for  from 
a  prince  incapable  even  of  defending  his  hereditary  do- 
minions against  its  domestic  enemies  ?  To  prevent  the 
utter  ruin  of  the  House  of  Austria,  his  own  family 
combined  against  him ;  and  a  powerful  party  threw  itself 
into  the  arms  of  his  brother.  Driven  from  his  hereditary 
dominions,  nothing  was  now  left  him  to  lose  but  the 
imperial  dignity ;  and  he  was  only  spared  this  last  dis- 
grace by  a  timely  death. 

At  this  critical  moment,  when  only  a  supple  policy, 
united  with  a  vigorous  arm,  could  have  maintained  the 
tranquillity  of  the  Empire,  its  evil  genius  gave  it  a  Ro- 
dolph for  emperor.  At  a  more  peaceful  period  the  Ger- 
manic Union  would  have  managed  its  own  interests,  and 


26  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

Rodolph,  like  so  many  others  of  his  rank,  might  have 
hidden  his  deficiencies  in  a  mysterious  obscurity.  But 
the  urgent  demand  for  the  qualities  in  which  he  was 
most  deficient  revealed  his  incapacity.  The  position  of 
Germany  called  for  an  emperor  who,  by  his  known 
energies,  could  give  weight  to  his  resolves;  and  the 
hereditary  dominions  of  Rodolph,  considerable  as  they 
were,  were  at  present  in  a  situation  to  occasion  the 
greatest  embarrassment  to  the  governors. 

The  Austrian  princes,  it  is  true,  were  Roman  Cath- 
olics, and,  in  addition  to  that,  the  supporters  of  popery, 
but  their  countries  were  far  from  being  so.  The  re- 
formed opinions  had  penetrated  even  these,  and,  favored 
by  Ferdinand's  necessities  and  Maximilian's  mildness, 
had  met  with  a  rapid  success.  The  Austrian  provinces 
exhibited  in  miniature  what  Germany  did  on  a  larger 
scale.  The  great  nobles  and  the  ritter  class  or  knights 
were  chiefly  evangelical,  and  in  the  cities  the  Protestants 
had  a  decided  preponderance.  If  they  succeeded  in 
bringing  a  few  of  their  party  into  the  country,  they 
contrived  imperceptibly  to  fill  all  places  of  trust  and  the 
magistracy  with  their  own  adherents,  and  to  exclude  the 
Catholics.  Against  the  numerous  order  of  the  nobles 
and  knights,  and  the  deputies  from  the  towns,  the  voice 
of  a  few  pi-elates  was  powerless ;  and  the  unseemly 
ridicule  and  offensive  contempt  of  the  former  soon  drove 
them  entirely  from  the  provincial  diets.  Thus  the  whole 
of  the  Austrian  Diet  had  imperceptibly  become  Protes- 
tant, and  the  Reformation  was  making  rapid  strides 
towards  its  public  recognition.  The  prince  was  depend- 
ent on  the  Estates,  who  had  it  in  their  power  to  grant 
or  refuse  supplies.  Accordingly,  they  availed  themselves 
of  the  financial  necessities  of  Ferdinand  and  his  son  to 
extort  one  religious  concession  after  another.  To  the 
nobles  and  knights  Maximilian  at  last  conceded  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion,  but  only  within  their  own 
territories  and  castles.  The  intemperate  enthusiasm  of 
the  Protestant  preachers  overstepped  the  boundaries 
which  prudence  had  prescribed.  In  defiance  of  the 
express  prohibition,  several  of  them  ventured  to  preach 
publicly,  not  only  in  the  towns,  but  in  Vienna  itself,  and 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  27 

the  people  flocked .  in  crowds  to  this  new  doctrine,  the 
best  seasoning  of  which  was  personality  and  abuse. 
Thus  continued  food  was  supplied  to  fanaticism,  and  the 
hatred  of  two  churches,  that  were  such  near  neighbors, 
was  farther  envenomed  by  the  sting  of  an  impure  zeal. 

Among  the  hereditary  dominions  of  the  House-  of 
Austria,  Hungary  and  Transylvania  were  the  most  un- 
stable and  the  most  difficult  to  retain.  The  impossibility 
of  holding  these  two  countries  against  the  neighboring 
and  overwhelming  power  of  the  Turks  had  already  driven 
Ferdinand  to  the  inglorious  expedient  of  recognizing,  by 
.in  annual  tribute,  the  Forte's  supremacy  over  Transylva- 
nia,—  a  shameful  confession  of  weakness,  and  a  still  more 
dangerous  temptation  to  the  turbulent  nobility,  when  they 
fancied  they  had  any  reason  to  complain  of  their  master. 
Not  without  conditions  had  the  Hungarians  submitted 
to  the  House  of  Austria.  They  asserted  the  elective 
freedom  of  their  crown,  and  boldly  contended  for  all 
those  prerogatives  of  their  order  which  are  inseparable 
from  this  freedom  of  election.  The  near  neighborhood 
of  Turkey,  the  facility  of  changing  masters  with  impu- 
nity, encouraged  the  magnates  still  more  in  their  pre- 
sumption ;  discontented  with  the  Austrian  government, 
they  threw  themselves  into  the  arms  of  the  Turks ;  dis- 
satisfied with  these,  they  returned  again  to  their  German 
sovereigns.  The  frequency  and  rapidity  of  these  transi- 
tions from  one  government  to  another  had  communi- 
cated its  influences  also  to  their  mode  of  thinking;  and  as 
their  country  wavered  between  the  Turkish  and  Austrian 
rule,  so  their  minds  vacillated  between  revolt  and  sub- 
mission. The  more  unfortunate  each  nation  felt  itself  in 
being  degraded  into  a  province  of  a  foreign  kingdom,  the 
stronger  desire  did  they  feel  to  obey  a  monarch  chosen 
from  amongst  themselves,  and  thus  it  was  always  easy  for 
an  enterprising  noble  to  obtain  their  support.  The 
nearest  Turkish  pasha  was  always  ready  to  bestow  the 
Hungarian  sceptre  and  crown  on  a  rebel  against  Austria ; 
just  as  ready  was  Austria  to  confirm  to  any  adven- 
turer the  possession  of  provinces  which  he  had  wrested 
from  the  Porte,  satisfied  with  preserving  thereby  the 
shadow  of  authority,  and  with  erecting  at  the  same 


28  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

time  a  barrier  against  the  Turks.  In  this  way  several  of 
these  magnates,  Bathori,  Boschkai,  Ragoczi,  and  Bethlen, 
succeeded  in  establishing  themselves,  one  after  another, 
as  tributary  sovereigns  in  Transylvania  and  Hungary ; 
and  they  maintained  their  ground  by  no  deeper  policy 
than  that  of  occasionally  joining  the  enemy,  in  order  to 
render  themselves  more  formidable  to  their  own  prince. 

Ferdinand,  Maximilian,  and  Rodolph,  who  were  all 
sovereigns  of  Hungary  and  Transylvania,  exhausted 
their  other  territories  in  endeavoring  to  defend  these 
from  the  hostile  inroads  of  the  Turks,  and  to  put  down 
intestine  rebellion.  In  this  quarter  destructive  wars 
were  succeeded  but  by  brief  truces,  which  were  scarcely 
less  hurtful :  far  and  wide  the  land  lay  waste,  while  the 
injured  serf  had  to  complain  equally  of  his  enemy  and 
his  protector.  Into  these  countries  also  the  Reformation 
had  penetrated  ;  and  protected  by  the  freedom  of  the 
States,  and  under  the  cover  of  the  internal  disorders, 
had  made  a  noticeable  progress.  Here,  too,  it  was  in- 
cautiously attacked,  and  party  spirit  thus  became  yet 
more  dangerous  from  religious  enthusiasm.  Headed  by 
a  bold  rebel,  Boschkai,  the  nobles  of  Hungary  and  Tran- 
sylvania raised  the  standard  of  rebellion.  The  Hungarian 
insurgents  were  upon  the  point  of  making  common  cause 
with  the  discontented  Protestants  in  Austria,  Moravia, 
and  Bohemia,  and  uniting  all  those  countries  in  one 
fearful  revolt.  The  downfall  of  popery  in  these  lands 
would  then  have  been  inevitable. 

Long  had  the  Austrian  archdukes,  the  brothers  of  the 
Emperor,  beheld  with  silent  indignation  the  impending 
ruin  of  their  house ;  this  last  event  hastened  their  deci- 
sion. The  Archduke  Matthias,  Maximilian's  second  son, 
Viceroy  in  Hungary,  and  Rodolph's  presumptive  heir, 
now  came  forward  as  the  stay  of  the  falling  house  of 
Hapsburg.  In  his  youth,  misled  by  a  false  ambition, 
this  prince,  disregarding  the  interests  of  his  family,  had 
listened  to  the  overtures  of  the  Flemish  insurgents,  who 
invited  him  into  the  Netherlands  to  conduct  the  defence 
of  their  liberties  against  the  oppression  of  his  own 
relative,  Philip  II.  Mistaking  the  voice  of  an  insulated 
faction  for  that  of  the  entire  nation,  Matthias  obeyed  the 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  29 

call.  But  the  event  answered  the  expectations  of  the 
men  of  Brabant  as  little  as  his  own,  and  from  this  impru- 
dent enterprise  he  retired  with  little  credit. 

Far  more  honorable  was  his  second  appearance  in  the 
political  world.  Perceiving  that  his  repeated  remon- 
strances with  the  Emperor  were  unavailing,  he  assembled 
the  archdukes,  his  brothers  and  cousins,  at  Presburg,  and 
consulted  with  them  on  the  growing  perils  of  their  house, 
when  they  unanimously  assigned  to  him,  as  the  oldest, 
the  duty  of  defending  that  patrimony  which  a  feeble 
brother  was  endangering.  In  his  hands  they  placed  all 
their  powers  and  rights,  and  vested  him  with  sovereign 
authority  to  act  at  his  discretion  for  the  common  good. 
Matthias  immediately  opened  a  communication  with  the 
Porte  and  the  Hungarian  rebels,  and  through  his  skilful 
management  succeeded  in  saving  by  a  peace  with  the 
Turks  the  remainder  of  Hungary,  and,  by  a  treaty 
with  the  rebels,  preserved  the  claims  of  Austria  to  the 
lost  provinces.  But  Rodolph,  as  jealous  as  he  had 
hitherto  been  careless  of  his  sovereign  authority,  refused 
to  ratify  this  treaty,  which  he  regarded  as  a  criminal 
encroachment  on  his  sovereign  rights.  He  accused  the 
Archduke  of  keeping  up  a  secret  understanding  with  the 
enemy,  and  of  cherishing  treasonable  designs  on  the 
crown  of  Hungary. 

The  activity  of  Matthias  was,  in  truth,  anything  but 
disinterested ;  the  conduct  of  the  Emperor  only  acceler- 
ated the  execution  of  his  ambitious  views.  Secure,  from 
motives  of  gratitude,  of  the  devotion  of  the  Hungarians, 
for  whom  he  had  so  lately  obtained  the  blessings  of  peace ; 
assured  by  his  agents  of  the  favorable  disposition  of  the 
nobles,  and  certain  of  the  support  of  a  large  party  even 
in  Austria,  he  now  ventured  to  assume  a  bolder  attitude, 
and,  sword  in  hand,  to  discuss  his  grievances  with  the 
Emperor.  The  Protestants  in  Austria  and  Moravia,  long 
ripe  for  revolt,  and  now  won  over  to  the  Archduke  by  his 
promises  of  toleration,  loudly  and  openly  espoused  his 
cause,  and  their  long-menaced  alliance  with  the  Hungarian 
rebels  was  actually  effected.  Almost  at  once  a  formid- 
able conspiracy  was  planned  and  matured  against  the 
Emperor.  Too  late  did  he  resolve  to  amend  his  past 


30  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

errors;  in  vain  did  he  attempt  to  break  up  this  fatal 
alliance.  Already  the  whole  empire  was  in  arms; 
Hungary,  Austria,  and  Moravia  had  done  homage  to 
Matthias,  who  was  already  on  his  march  to  Bohemia  to 
seize  the  Emperor  in  his  palace,  and  to  cut  at  once  the 
sinews  of  his  power. 

Bohemia  was  not  a  more  peaceable  possession  for 
Austria  than  Hungary  ;  with  this  difference  only,  that,  in 
the  latter,  political  considerations,  in  the  former,  religious 
dissensions,  fomented  disorders.  In  Bohemia,  a  century 
before  the  days  of  Luther,  the  first  spark  of  the  religious 
war  had  been  kindled  ;  a  century  after  Luther  the  first 
flames  of  the  thirty  years,  war  burst  out  in  Bohemia. 
The  sect  which  owed  its  rise  to  John  Huss  still  existed 
in  that  country ;  —  it  agreed  with  the  Romish  Church  in 
ceremonies  and  docti-ines,  with  the  single  exception  of 
the  administration  of  the  Communion,  in  which  the 
Hussites  communicated  in  both  kinds.  This  privilege 
had  been  conceded  to  the  followers  of  Huss  by  the 
Council  of  Basle  in  an  express  treaty  (the  Bohemian 
Compact)  ;  and  though  it  was  afterwards  disavowed  by 
the  popes,  they  nevertheless  continued  to  profit  by  it 
under  the  sanction  of  the  government.  As  the  use  of  the 
cup  formed  the  only  important  distinction  of  their  body, 
they  were  usually  designated  by  the  name  of  Utraquists ; 
and  they  readily  adopted  an  appellation  which  reminded 
them  of  their  dearly-valued  privilege.  But  under  this 
title  lurked  also  the  far  stricter  sects  of  the  Bohemian 
and  Moravian  Brethren,  who  differed  from  the  predomi- 
nant church  in  more  important  particulars,  and  bore,  in 
fact,  a  great  resemblance  to  the  German  Protestants. 
Among  them  both  the  German  and  Swiss  opinions  on 
religion  made  rapid  progress ;  while  the  name  of  Utra- 
quists,  under  which  they  managed  to  disguise  the  change 
of  their  principles,  shielded  them  from  persecution. 

In  truth,  they  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  Utra- 
quists  but  the  name ;  essentially  they  were  altogether 
Protestant.  Confident  in  the  strength  of  their  party,  and 
the  Emperor's  toleration  under  Maximilian,  they  had 
openly  avowed  their  tenets.  After  the  example  of  the 
Germans,  they  drew  up  a  Confession  of  their  own,  in 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  31 

which  Lutherans  as  well  as  Calvinists  recognized  their 
own  doctrines,  and  they  sought  to  transfer  to  the  new 
Confession  the  privileges  of  the  original  Utraquists.  In 
this  they  were  opposed  by  their  Roman  Catholic  country- 
men, and  forced  to  rest  content  with  the  Emperor's 
verbal  assurance  of  protection. 

As  long  as  Maximilian  lived  they  enjoyed  complete 
toleration,  even  under  the  new  form  they  had  taken. 
Under  his  successor  the  scene  changed.  An  imperial 
edict  appeared  which  deprived  the  Bohemian  Brethren 
of  their  religious  freedom.  Now  these  differed  in  nothing 
from  the  other  Utraquists.  The  sentence,  therefore,  of 
their  condemnation  obviously  included  all  the  partisans 
of  the  Bohemian  Confession.  Accordingly,  they  all 
combined  to  oppose  the  imperial  mandate  in  the  Diet, 
but  without  being  able  to  procure  its  revocation.  The 
Emperor  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Estates  took  their 
ground  on  the  Compact  and  the  Bohemian  Constitution  ; 
in  which  nothing  appeared  in  favor  of  a  religion  which 
had  not  then  obtained  the  voice  of  the  country.  Since 
that  time  how  completely  had  affairs  changed  ?  What 
then  formed  but  an  inconsiderable  opinion  had  now 
become  the  predominant  religion  of  the  country.  And 
what  was  it  then  but  a  subterfuge  to  limit  a  newly- 
spreading  religion  by  the  terms  of  obsolete  treaties? 
The  Bohemian  Protestants  appealed  to  the  verbal  guar- 
antee of  Maximilian,  and  the  religious  freedom  of  the 
Germans,  with  whom  they  argued  they  ought  to  be  on  a 
footing  of  equality.  It  was  in  vain  —  their  appeal  was 
dismissed. 

Such  was  the  posture  of  affairs  in  Bohemia  when 
Matthias,  already  master  of  Hungary,  Austria,  and 
Moravia,  appeared  in  Kolin,  to  raise  the  Bohemian 
Estates  also  against  the  Emperor.  The  embarrassment 
of  the  latter  was  now  at  its  height.  Abandoned  by  all 
his  other  subjects,  he  placed  his  last  hopes  on  the 
Bohemians,  who,  it  might  be  foreseen,  would  take  advan- 
tage of  his  necessities  to  enforce  their  own  demands. 
After  an  interval  of  many  years,  he  once  more  appeared 
publicly  in  the  Diet  at  Prague ;  and  to  convince  the 
people  that  he  was  really  still  in  existence,  orders  were 


32  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

given  that  all  the  windows  should  be  opened  in  the 
streets  through  which  he  was  to  pass  —  proof  enough 
how  far  things  had  gone  with  him.  The  event  justified 
his  fears.  The  Estates,  conscious  of  their  own  power, 
refused  to  take  a  single  step  until  their  privileges  were 
confirmed,  and  religious  toleration  fully  assured  to  them. 
It  was  in  vain  to  have  recourse  now  to  the  old  system  of 
evasion.  The  Emperor's  fate  was  in  their  hands,  and  he 
must  yield  to  necessity.  At  present,  however,  he  only 
granted  their  other  demands  —  religious  matters  he 
reserved  for  consideration  at  the  next  Diet. 

The  Bohemians  now  took  up  arms  in  defence  of  the 
Emperor,  and  a  bloody  war  between  the  t\vo  brothers 
was  on  the  point  of  breaking  out.  But  Rodolph,  who 
feared  nothing  so  much  as  remaining  in  this  slavish 
dependence  on  the  Estates,  waited  not  for  a  warlike 
issue,  but  hastened  to  effect  a  reconciliation  with  his 
brother  by  more  peaceable  means.  By  a  formal  act  of 
abdication  he  resigned  to  Matthias,  what  indeed  he  had 
no  chance  of  wresting  from  him,  Austria  and  the  kingdom 
of  Hungary,  and  acknowledged  him  as  his  successor  to 
the  crown  of  Bohemia. 

Dearly  enough  had  the  Emperor  extricated  himself 
from  one  difficulty  only  to  get  immediately  involved  in 
another.  The  settlement  of  the  religious  affairs  of 
Bohemia  had  been  referred  to  the  next  Diet,  which  was 
held  in  1609.  The  reformed  Bohemians  demanded  the 
free  exercise  of  their  faith,  as  under  the  former  emperors ; 
a  Consistory  of  their  own ;  the  cession  of  the  University 
of  Prague ;  and  the  right  of  electing  Defenders,  or 
Protectors  of  Liberty,  from  their  own  body.  The  answer 
was  the  same  as  before  ;  for  the  timid  Emperor  was  now 
entirely  fettered  by  the  unreformed  party.  However 
often,  and  in  however  threatening  language  the  Estates 

~  •  -i      • 

renewed  their  remonstrances,  the  Emperor  persisted  in 
his  first  declaration  of  granting  nothing  beyond  the  old 
compact.  The  Diet  broke  up  without  coming  to  a  de- 
cision ;  and  the  Estates,  exasperated  against  the  Emperor, 
arranged  a  general  meeting  at  Prague,  upon  their  own 
authority,  to  right  themselves. 

They  appeared  at  Prague  in  great  force.     In  defiance 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  33 

of  the  imperial  prohibition  they  carried  on  their  delibera- 
tions almost  under  the  very  eyes  of  the  Emperor.  The 
yielding  compliance  which  lie  began  to  show  only  proved 
how  much  they  were  feared,  and  increased  their  audacity. 
Yet  on  the  main  point  he  remained  inflexible.  They 
fulfilled  their  threats,  and  at  last  resolved  to  establish,  by 
their  own  power,  the  free  and  universal  exercise  of  their 
religion,  and  to  abandon  the  Emperor  to  his  necessities 
until  he  should  confirm  this  resolution.  They  even  went 
farther,  and  elected  for  themselves  the  DEFENDERS  which 
the  Emperor  had  refused  them.  Ten  were  nominated  by 
each  of  the  three  Estates  ;  they  also  determined  to  raise, 
as  soon  as  possible,  an  armed  force,  at  the  head  of  which 
Count  Thurn,  the  chief  organizer  of  the  revolt,  should  be 
placed  as  general  defender  of  the  liberties  of  Bohemia. 
Their  determination  brought  the  Emperor  to  submission, 
to  which  he  was  now  counselled  even  by  the  Spaniards. 
Apprehensive  lest  the  exasperated  Estates  should  throw 
themselves  into  the  arms  of  the  King  of  Hungary,  he 
signed  the  memorable  Letter  of  Majesty  for  Bohemia,  by 
which,  under  the  successors  of  the  Emperor,  that  people 
justified  their  rebellion. 

The  Bohemian  Confession,  which  the  States  had  laid 
before  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  was,  by  the  Letter  of 
Majesty,  placed  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  the  olden 
profession.  The  Utraquists,  for  by  this  title  the  Bohe- 
mian Protestants  continued  to  designate  themselves,  were 
put  in  possession  of  the  LTniversity  of  Prague,  and  allowed 
a  Consistory  of  their  own  entirely  independent  of  the 
archiepiscopal  see  of  that  city.  All  the  churches  in  the 
cities,  villages,  and  market  towns,  which  they  held  at  the 
date  of  the  letter,  were  secured  to  them ;  and  if  in 
addition  they  wished  to  erect  others,  it  was  permitted  to 
the  nobles,  and  knights,  and  the  free  cities  to  do  so. 
This  last  clause  in  the  Letter  of  Majesty  gave  rise  to  the 
unfortunate  disputes  which  subsequently  rekindled  the 
flames  of  war  in  Europe. 

The  Letter  of  Majesty  erected  the  Protestant  part  of 
Bohemia  into  a  kind  of  republic.  The  Estates  had 
learned  to  feel  the  power  which  they  gained  by  perse- 
verance, unity,  and  harmony  in  their  measures.  The 


34  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

Emperor  now  retained  little  more  than  the  shadow  of 
his  sovereign  authority ;  while  by  the  new  dignity  of  the 
so-called  defenders  of  liberty  a  dangerous  stimulus  was 
given  to  the  spirit  of  revolt.  The  example  and  success 
of  Bohemia  afforded  a  tempting  seduction  to  the  other 
hereditary  dominions  of  Austria,  and  all  attempted  by 
similar  means  to  extort  similar  privileges.  The  spirit  of 
liberty  spread  from  one  province  to  another ;  and  as  it 
was  chiefly  the  disunion  among  the  Austrian  princes  that 
had  enabled  the  Protestants  so  materially  to  improve 
their  advantages,  they  now  hastened  to  effect  a  reconcili- 
ation between  the  Emperor  and  the  King  of  Hungary. 

But  the  reconciliation  could  not  be  sincere.  The 
wrong  was  too  great  to  be  forgiven,  and  Rodolph  con- 
tinued to  nourish  at  heart  an  unextinguishable  hatred  of 
Matthias.  With  grief  and  indignation  he  brooded  over  the 
thought  that  the  Bohemian  sceptre  was  finally  to  descend 
into  the  hands  of  his  enemy ;  and  the  prospect  was  not 
more  consoling,  even  if  Matthias  should  die  without 
issue.  In  that  case,  Ferdinand,  Archduke  of  Gratz,  whom 
he  equally  disliked,  was  the  head  of  the  family.  To 
exclude  the  latter  as  well  as  Matthias  from  the  succession. 
to  the  throne  of  Bohemia,  he  fell  upon  the  project  of 
diverting  that  inheritance  to  Ferdinand's  brother,  the 
Archduke  Leopold,  Bishop  of  Passau,  who  among  all  his 
relatives  had  ever  been  the  dearest  and  most  deserving. 
The  prejudices  of  the  Bohemians  in  favor  of  the  elective 
freedom  of  their  crown,  and  their  attachment  to  Leo- 
pold's person,  seemed  to  favor  this  scheme,  in  which 
Rodolph  consulted  rather  his  own  partiality  and  vindictive- 
ness  than  the  good  of  his  house.  But  to  carry  out  this 
project,  a  military  force  was  requisite,  and  Rodolph 
actually  assembled  an  army  in  the  bishopric  of  Passau. 
The  object  of  this  force  was  hidden  from  all.  An  inroad, 
however,  which,  for  want  of  pay,  it  made  suddenly  and 
without  the  Emperor's  knowledge  into  Bohemia,  and  the 
outrages  which  it  there  committed,  stirred  up  the  whole 
kingdom  against  him.  In  vain  he  asserted  his  innocence 
to  the  Bohemian  Estates;  they  would  not  believe  his  pro- 
testations; vainly  did  he  attempt  to  restrain  the  violence 
of  his  soldiery  ;  they  disregarded  his  orders.  Persuaded 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  35 

that  the  Emperor's  object  was  to  annul  the  Letter  of 
Majesty,  the  Protectors  of  Liberty  armed  the  whole  of 
Protestant  Bohemia,  and  invited  Matthias  into  the 
country.  After  the  dispersion  of  the  force  he  had 
collected  at  Passau,  the  Emperor  remained  helpless  at 
Prague,  where  he  was  kept  shut  up  like  a  prisoner  in  his 
palace,  and  separated  from  all  his  counsellors.  In  the 
meantime  Matthias  entered  Prague  amidst  universal 
rejoicings,  where  Rodolph  was  soon  afterwards  weak 
enough  to  acknowledge  him  King  of  Bohemia.  So  hard 
a  fate  befell  this  Emperor ;  he  was  compelled,  during  his 
life,  to  abdicate  in  favor  of  his  enemy  that  very  throne 
of  which  he  had  been  endeavoring  to  deprive  him  after 
his  own  death.  To  complete  his  degradation  he  was 
obliged,  by  a  personal  act  of  renunciation,  to  release  his 
subjects  in  Bohemia,  Silesia,  and  Lusatia  from  their 
allegiance,  and  he  did  it  with  a  broken  heart.  All,  even 
those  he  thought  lie  had  most  attached  to  his  person,  had 
abandoned  him.  When  he  had  signed  the  instrument  he 
threw  his  hat  upon  the  ground,  and  gnawed  the  pen 
which  had  rendered  so  shameful  a  service. 

While  Rodolph  thus  lost  one  hereditary  dominion  after 
another  the  imperial  dignity  was  not  much  better  main- 
tained by  him.  Each  of  the  religious  parties  into  which 
Germany  was  divided  continued  its  efforts  to  advance 
itself  at  the  expense  of  the  other,  or  to  guard  against  its 
attacks.  The  weaker  the  hand  that  held  the  sceptre,  and 
the  more  the  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics  felt  they 
were  left  to  themselves,  the  more  vigilant  necessarily 
became  their  watchfulness,  and  the  greater  their  distrust 
of  each  other.  It  was  enough  that  the  Emperor  was 
ruled  by  Jesuits,  and  was  guided  by  Spanish  counsels,  to 
excite  the  apprehension  of  the  Protestants  and  to  afford  a 
pretext  for  hostility.  The  rash  zeal  of  the  Jesuits,  which 
in  the  pulpit  and  by  the  press  disputed  the  validity  of  the 
religious  peace,  increased  this  distrust,  and  caused  their 
adversaries  to  see  a  dangerous  design  in  the  most  indif- 
ferent measures  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  Every  step 
taken  in  the  hereditary  dominions  of  the  Emperor  for 
the  repression  of  the  reformed  religion  was  sure  to  draw 
the  attention  of  all  the  Protestants  of  Germany ;  and 


36  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

this  powerful  support  which  the  reformed  subjects  of 
Austria  met,  or  expected  to  meet  with  from  their  reli- 
gious confederates  in  the  rest  of  Germany,  was  no  small 
cause  of  their  confidence  and  of  the  rapid  success  of 
Matthias.  It  was  the  general  belief  of  the  Empire  that 
they  owed  the  long  enjoyment  of  the  religious  peace 
merely  to  the  difficulties  in  which  the  Emperor  was 
placed  by  the  internal  troubles  in  his  dominions  ;  and 
consequently  they  were  in  no  haste  to  relieve  him  from 
them. 

Almost  all  the  affairs  of  the  Diet  were  neglected,  either 
through  the  procrastination  of  the  Emperor,  or  through 
the  fault  of  the  Protestant  Estates,  who  had  determined 
to  make  no  provision  for  the  common  wants  of  the 
Empire  till  their  own  grievances  were  removed.  These 
grievances  related  principally  to  the  misgovernment  of 
the  Emperor;  the  violation  of  the  religious  treaty,  and 
the  presumptuous  usurpations  of  the  Aulic  Council, 
which  in  the  present  reign  had"  begun  to  extend  its 
jurisdiction  at  the  expense  of  the  Imperial  Chamber. 
Formerly,  in  all  disputes  between  the  Estates,  which 
could  not  be  settled  by  club  law,  the  Emperors  had  in 
the  last  resort  decided  of  themselves,  if  the  case  were 
trifling,  and  in  conjunction  with  the  princes,  if  it  were 
important;  or  they  determined  them  by  the  advice  of 
imperial  judges  who  followed  the  court.  This  superior 
jurisdiction  they  had,  in  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
assigned  to  a  regular  and  permanent  tribunal,  the  Im- 
perial Chamber  of  Spires,  in  which  the  Estates  of  the 
Empire,  that  they  might  not  be  oppressed  by  the  arbi- 
trary appointment  of  the  Emperor,  had  reserved  to 
themselves  the  right  of  electing  the  assessors,  and  of 
periodically  reviewing  its  decrees.  By  the  religious 
peace,  these  rights  of  the  Estates  (called  the  rights  of 
presentation  and  visitation),  were  extended  also  to  the 
Lutherans,  so  that  Protestant  judges  had  a  voice  in  Prot- 
estant causes,  and  a  seeming  equality  obtained  for  both 
religions  in  this  supreme  tribunal. 

But  the  enemies  of  the  Reformation  and  of  the  freedom 
of  the  Estates,  vigilant  to  take  advantage  of  every 
incident  that  favored  their  views,  soon  found  means  to 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  37 

neutralize  the  beneficial  effects  of  this  institution.  A 
supreme  jurisdiction  over  the  Imperial  States  was  gradu- 
ally and  skilfully  usurped  by  a  private  imperial  tribunal, 
the  Aulic  Council  in  Vienna,  a  court  at  first  intended 
merely  to  advise  the  Emperor  in  the  exercise  of  his 
undoubted,  imperial,  and  personal  prerogatives ;  a  court 
whose  members,  being  appointed  and  paid  by  him,  had  no 
law  but  the  interest  of  their  master,  and  no  standard 
of  equity  but  the  advancement  of  the  unreformed  religion 
of  which  they  were  partisans.  Before  the  Aulic  Council, 
were  now  brought  several  suits  originating  between 
Estates  differing  in  religion,  and  which,  therefore,  prop- 
erly belonged  to  the  Imperial  Chamber.  It  was  not 
surprising  if  the  decrees  of  this  tribunal  bore  traces  of 
their  orgiu ;  if  the  interests  of  the  Roman  Church  and  of 
the  Emperor  were  preferred  to  justice  by  Roman  Catholic 
judges,  and  the  creatures  of  the  Emperor.  Although  all 
the  Estates  of  Germany  seemed  to  have  equal  cause  for 
resisting  so  perilous  an  abuse,  the  Protestants  alone,  who 
most  sensibly  felt  it,  and  even  these  not  all  at  once  and  in 
a  body,  came  forward  as  the  defenders  of  German  liberty, 
which  the  establishment  of  so  arbitrary  a  tribunal  had 
outraged  in  its  most  sacred  point,  the  adminstration  of 
justice.  In  fact,  Germany  would  have  had  little  cause  to 
congratulate  itself  upon  the  abolition  of  club  law,  and  in 
the  institution  of  the  Imperial  Chamber,  if  an  arbitrary 
tribunal  of  the  Emperor  was  allowed  to  interfere  with  the 
latter.  The  Estates  of  the  German  Empire  would  indeed 
have  improved  little  upon  the  days  of  barbarism  if  the 
Chamber  of  Justice,  in  which  they  sat  along  with  the 
Emperor  as  judges,  and  for  which  they  had  abandoned 
their  original  princely  prerogative,  should  cease  to  be  a 
court  of  the  last  resort.  But  the  strangest  contradictions 
were  at  this  date  to  be  found  in  the  minds  of  men.  The 
name  of  Emperor,  a  remnant  of  Roman  despotism,  was 
still  associated  with  an  idea  of  autocracy,  which,  though 
it  formed  a  ridiculous  inconsistency  with  the  privileges  of 
the  Estates,  was  nevertheless  argued  for  by  jurists, 
diffused  by  the  partisans  of  despotism,  and  believed  by 
the  ignorant. 

To  these  general   grievances  was  gradually  added  a 


38  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

chain  of  singular  incidents,  which  at  length  converted 
the  anxiety  of  the  Protestants  into  utter  distrust.  During 
the  Spanish  persecutions  in  the  Netherlands  several 
Protestant  families  had  taken  refuge  in  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
an  imperial  city,  and  attached  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith,  where  they  settled  and  insensibly  extended  their 
adherents.  Having  succeeded  by  stratagem  in  introducing 
some  of  their  members  into  the  municipal  council,  they 
demanded  a  church  and  the  public  exercise  of  their 
worship,  and  the  demand  being  unfavorably  received, 
they  succeeded  by  violence  in  enforcing  it,  and  also  in 
usurping  the  entire  government  of  the  city.  To  see  so 
important  a  city  in  Protestant  hands  was  too  heavy  a 
blow  for  the  Emperor  and  the  Roman  Catholics.  After 
all  the  Emperor's  requests  and  commands  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  olden  government  had  proved  ineffectual,  the 
Aulic  Council  proclaimed  the  city  under  the  ban  of  the 
Empire,  which,  however,  was  not  put  in  force  till  the 
following  reign. 

Of  yet  greater  importance  were  two  other  attempts  of 
the  Protestants  to  extend  their  influence  and  their  power. 
The  Elector  Gebhard,  of  Cologne  (born  Truchsess*  of 
Waldburg),  conceived  for  the  young  Countess  Agnes,  of 
Mansfield,  Canoness  of  Gerresheim,  a  passion  which  was 
not  unreturned.  As  the  eyes  of  all  Germany  were 
directed  to  this  intercourse,  the  brothers  of  the  Countess, 
two  zealous  Calvinists,  demanded  satisfaction  for  the 
injured  honor  of  their  house,  which,  as  long  as  the  Elector 
remained  a  Roman  Catholic  prelate,  could  not  be  repaired 
by  marriage.  They  threatened  the  Elector  they  would 
wash  out  this  stain  in  his  blood  and  their  sister's  unless 
he  either  abandoned  all  further  connection  with  the 
Countess,  or  consented  to  re-establish  her  reputation  at 
the  altar.  The  Elector,  indifferent  to  all  the  consequences 
of  this  step,  listened  to  nothing  but  the  voice  of  love. 
Whether  it  was  in  consequence  of  his  previous  inclination 
to  the  reformed  doctrines,  or  that  the  charms  of  his 
mistress  alone  effected  this  wonder,  he  renounced  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith,  and  led  the  beautiful  Agnes  to 
the  altar. 

*  Grand-master  of  the  kitchen. 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  39 

This  event  was  of  the  greatest  importance.  By  the 
letter  of  the  clause  reserving  the  ecclesiastical  states  from 
the  general  operation  of  the  religious  peace,  the  Elector 
had,  by  his  apostasy,  forfeited  all  right  to  the  tempora- 
lities of  his  bishopric ;  and  if,  in  any  case,  it  was  impor- 
tant for  the  Catholics  to  enforce  the  clause,  it  was  so 
especially  in  the  case  of  electorates.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  relinquishment  of  so  high  a  dignity  was  a  severe 
sacrifice,  and  peculiarly  so  in  the  case  of  a  tender  husband, 
who  had  wished  to  enhance  the  value  of  his  heart  and 
hand  by  the  gift  of  a  principality.  Moreover,  the  Reser- 
vatum  Ecclesiasticum  was  a  disputed  article  of  the  treaty 
of  Augsburg  ;  and  all  the  German  Protestants  were  aware 
of  the  extreme  importance  of  wresting  this  fourth* 
electorate  from  the  opponents  of  their  faith.  The  ex- 
ample had  already  been  set  in  several  of  the  ecclesiastical 
benefices  of  Lower  Germany,  and  attended  with  success. 
Several  canons  of  Cologne  had  also  already  embraced  the 
Protestant  confession,  and  were  on  the  Elector's  side, 
while  in  the  city  itself  he  could  depend  upon  the  support 
of  a  numerous  Protestant  party.  All  these  considera- 
tions, greatly  strengthened  by  the  persuasions  of  his 
friends  and  relations,  and  the  promises  of  several  German 
courts,  determined  the  Elector  to  retain  his  dominions, 
while  he  changed  his  religion. 

But  it  was  soon  apparent  that  he  had  entered  upon  a 
contest  which  he  could  not  carry  through.  Even  the 
free  toleration  of  the  Protestant  service  within  the  tei-- 
ritories  of  Cologne  had  already  occasioned  a  violent 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  canons  and  .Roman  Catholic 
Estates  of  that  province.  The  intervention  of  the  Em- 
peror, and  a  papal  ban  from  Rome,  which  anathematized 
the  Elector  as  an  apostate,  and  deprived  him  of  all  his 
dignities,  temporal  and  spiritual,  armed  his  own  subjects 
and  chapter  against  him.  The  Elector  assembled  a 
military  force ;  the  chapter  did  the  same.  To  insure  also 
the  aid  of  a  strong  arm,  they  proceeded  fortwith  to  a 
new  election,  and  chose  the  Bishop  of  Liege,  a  prince  of 
Bavaria. 

A  civil  war  now  commenced,  which,  from  the  strong 

*  Saxony,  Brandenburg,  and  the  Palatinate  were  already  Protestant. 


40  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

interest  which  both  religious  parties  in  Germany  neces- 
sarily felt  in  the  conjuncture,  was  likely  to  terminate  in 
a  general  breaking  up  of  the  religious  peace.  What 
most  made  the  Protestants  indignant  was  that  the  Pope 
should  have  presumed,  by  a  pretended  apostolic  power, 
to  deprive  a  prince  of  the  empire  of  his  imperial  dignities. 
Even  in  the  golden  days  of  their  spiritual  domination 
this  prerogative  of  the  Pope  had  been  disputed  ;  how 
much  more  likely  was  it  to  be  questioned  at  a  period 
when  his  authority  was  entirely  disowned  by  one  party, 
while  even  with  the  other  it  rested  on  a  tottering  founda- 
tion. All  the  Protestant  princes  took  up  the  affair 
warmly  against  the  Emperor  ;  and  Henry  IV.  of  France, 
then  King  of  Navarre,  left  no  means  of  negotiation 
untried  to  urge  the  German  princes  to  the  vigorous 
assertion  of  their  rights.  The  issue  would  decide  for- 
ever the  liberties  of  Germany.  Four  Protestant  against 
three  Roman  Catholic  voices  in  the  Electoral  College 
must  at  once  have  given  the  preponderance  to  the  former, 
and  forever  excluded  the  House  of  Austria  from  the 
imperial  throne. 

But  the  Elector  Gebhard  had  embraced  the  Calvinist, 
not  the  Lutheran  religion  ;  and  this  circumstance  alone 
was  his  ruin.  The  mutual  rancor  of  these  two  churches 
would  not  permit  the  Lutheran  Estates  to  regard  the 
Elector  as  one  of  their  party,  and  as  such  to  lend  him 
their  effectual  support.  All  indeed  had  encouraged  and 
promised  him  assistance  ;  but  only  one  appanaged  prince 
of  the  Palatine  House,  the  Palsgrave  John  Casimir,  a 
zealous  Calvinist,  kept  his  word.  Despite  of  the  imperial 
prohibition  he  hastened  with  his  little  army  into  the 
territories  of  Cologne ;  but  without  being  able  to  effect 
anything,  because  the  Elector,  who  was  destitute  even 
of  the  first  necessaries,  left  him  totally  without  help.  So 
much  the  more  rapid  was  the  progress  of  the  newly-chosen 
elector,  whom  his  Bavarian  relations  and  the  Spaniards 
from  the  Netherlands  supported  with  the  utmost  A-igor. 
The  troops  of  Gebhard,  left  by  their  master  without  pay, 
abandoned  one  place  after  another  to  the  enemy ;  by 
whom  others  were  compelled  to  surrender.  In  his  West- 
phalian  territories  Gebhard  held  out  for  some  time  longer, 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  41 

till  here,  too,  he  was  at  last  obliged  to  yield  to  superior 
force.  After  several  vain  attempts  in  Holland  and 
England  to  obtain  means  for  his  restoration,  he  retired 
into  the  Chapter  of  Strasburg,  and  died  dean  of  that 
cathedral ;  the  first  sacrifice  to  the  Ecclesiastical  Reser- 
vation, or  rather  to  the  want  of  harmony  among  the 
German  Protestants. 

To  this  dispute  in  Cologne  was  soon  added  another  in 
Strasburg.  Several  Protestant  canons  of  Cologne,  who 
had  been  included  in  the  same  papal  ban  with  the  Elector, 
had  taken  refuge  \vithin  this  bishopric,  where  they  like- 
wise held  prebends.  As  the  Roman  Catholic  canons  of 
Strasburg  hesitated  to  allow  them,  as  being  under  the 
ban,  the  enjoyment  of  their  prebends,  they  took  violent 
possession  of  their  benefices,  and  the  support  of  a  power- 
ful Protestant  party  among  the  citizens  soon  gave  them 
the  preponderance  in  the  chapter.  The  other  canons  there- 
upon retired  to  Alsace-Saverne,  where,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  bishop,  they  established  themselves  as  the  only 
lawful  chapter,  and  denounced  that  which  remained  in 
Strasburg  as  illegal.  The  latter,  in  the  meantime,  had  so 
strengthened  themselves  by  the  reception  of  several  Prot- 
estant colleagues  of  high  rank  that  they  could  venture, 
upon  the  death  of  the  bishop,  to  nominate  a  new  Protes- 
tant bishop  in  the  person  of  John  George  of  Brandenburg. 
The  Roman  Catholic  canons,  far  from  allowing  this 
election,  nominated  the  Bishop  of  Metz,  a  prince  of  Lor- 
raine, to  that  dignity,  who  announced  his  promotion  by 
immediately  commencing  hostilities  against  the  territories 
of  Strasburg. 

That  city  now  took  up  arms  in  defence  of  its  Protestant 
chapter  and  the  Prince  of  Brandendurg,  while  the  other 
party,  with  the  assistance  of  the  troops  of  Lorraine, 
endeavored  to  possess  themselves  of  the  temporalities  of 
the  chapter.  A  tedious  war  was  the  consequence,  which, 
according  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  was  attended  with 
barbarous  devastations.  In  vain  did  the  Emperor  inter- 
pose with  his  supreme  authority  to  terminate  the  dispute ; 
the  ecclesiastical  property  remained  for  a  long  time 
divided  between  the  two  parties,  till  at  last  the  Protestant 
prince,  for  a  moderate  pecuniary  equivalent,  renounced 


42  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR. 

his  claims ;  and  thus,  in  this  dispute  also,  the  Roman 
Church  came  off  victorious. 

An  occurrence  which,  soon  after  the  adjustment  of  this 
dispute,  took  place  in  Uonauwerth,  a  free  city  of  Suabia, 
was  still  more  critical  for  the  whole  of  Protestant  Ger- 
many. In  this  once  Roman  Catholic  city  the  Protestants, 
during  the  reigns  of  Ferdinand  and  his  son,  had,  in  the 
usual  way,  become  so  completely  predominant  that  the 
Roman  Catholics  were  obliged  to  content  themselves  with 
a  church  in  the  monastery  of  the  Holy  Cross,  and,  for 
fear  of  offending  the  Protestants,  were  even  forced  to 
suppress  the  greater  part  of  their  religious  rites.  At 
length  a  fanatical  abbot  of  this  monastery  ventured  to 
defy  the  popular  prejudices,  and  to  arrange  a  public 
procession,  preceded  by  the  cross  and  banners  flying; 
but  he  was  soon  compelled  to  desist  from  the  attempt. 
When,  a  year  afterwards,  encouraged  by  a  favorable 
imperial  proclamation,  the  same  abbot  attempted  to  renew 
this  procession,  the  citizens  proceeded  to  open  violence. 
The  inhabitants  shut  the  gates  against  the  monks  on 
their  return,  trampled  their  colors  under  foot,  and  followed 
them  home  with  clamor  and  abuse.  An  imperial  citation 
was  the  consequence  of  this  act  of  violence ;  and  as  the 
exasperated  populace  even  threatened  to  assault  the 
imperial  commissaries,  and  all  attempts  at  an  amicable 
adjustment  were  frustrated  by  the  fanaticism  of  the 
multitude,  the  city  was  at  last  formally  placed  under  the 
ban  of  the  Empire,  the  execution  of  which  was  entrusted 
to  Maximilian,  Duke  of  Bavaria.  The  citizens,  formerly 
so  insolent,  were  seized  with  terror  at  the  approach  of 
the  Bavarian  army ;  pusillanimity  now  possessed  them, 
though  once  so  full  of  defiance,  and  they  laid  down  their 
arms  without  striking  a  blow.  The  total  abolition  of  the 
Protestant  religion  within  the  walls  of  the  city  was  the 
punishment  of  their  rebellion ;  it  was  deprived  of  its 
privileges,  and,  from  a  free  city  of  Suabia,  converted  into 
a  municipal  town  of  Bavaria. 

Two  circumstances  connected  with  this  proceeding 
must  have  strongly  excited  the  attention  of  the  Protes- 
tants, even  if  the  interests  of  religion  had  been  less 
powerful  on  their  minds.  First  of  all,  the  sentence  had 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  43 

been  pronounced  by  the  Aulic  Council,  an  arbitrary  and 
exclusively  Roman  Catholic  tribunal,  whose  jurisdiction 
besides  had  been  so  warmly  disputed  by  them;  and 
secondly,  its  execution  had  been  entrusted  to  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria,  the  head  of  another  circle.  These  unconstitu- 
tional steps  seemed  to  be  the  harbingers  of  further  violent 
measures  on  the  Roman  Catholic  side,  the  result,  prob- 
ably, of  secret  conferences  and  dangerous  designs,  which 
might  perhaps  end  in  the  entire  subversion  of  their 
religious  liberty. 

In  circumstances  where  the  law  of  force  prevails,  and 
security  depends  upon  power  alone,  the  weakest  party  is 
naturally  the  most  busy  to  place  itself  in  a  posture  of 
defence.  This  was  now  the  case  in  Germany.  If  the 
Roman  Catholics  really  meditated  any  evil  against  the 
Protestants  in  Germany,  the  probability  was  that  the 
blow  would  fall  on  the  south  rather  than  the  north, 
because,  in  Lower  Germany,  the  Protestants  were  con- 
nected through  a  long  unbroken  tract  of  country,  and 
could  therefore  easily  combine  for  their  mutual  support; 
while  those  in  the  south,  detached  from  each  other,  and 
surrounded  on  all  sides  by  Roman  Catholic  states,  were 
exposed  to  every  inroad.  If,  moreover,  as  was-  to  be 
expected,  the  Catholics  availed  themselves  of  the  divis- 
ions amongst  the  Protestants,  and  levelled  their  attack 
against  one  of  the  religious  parties,  it  was  the  Calvinists, 
who  as  the  weaker,  and  as  being  besides  excluded  from 
the  religious  treaty,  were  apparently  in  the  greatest 
danger,  and  upon  them  would  probably  fall  the  first 
attack. 

Both  these  circumstances  took  place  in  the  dominions 
of  the  Elector  Palatine,  which  possessed,  in  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria,  a  formidable  neighbor,  and  which,  by  reason  of 
their  defection  to  Calvinism,  received  no  protection  from 
the  Religious  Peace,  and  had  little  hope  of  succor  from 
the  Lutheran  states.  No  country  in  Germany  had  expe- 
rienced so  many  revolutions  in  religion  in  such  a  short 
time  as  the  Palatinate.  In  the  space  of  sixty  years  this 
country,  an  unfortunate  toy  in  the  hands  of  its  rulers,  had 
twice  adopted  the  doctrines  of  Luther,  and  twice  relin- 
quished them  for  Calvinism.  The  Elector  Frederick  III. 


44  THE   THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR. 

first  abandoned  the  confession  of  Augsburg,  which  his 
eldest  son  and  successor,  Lewis,  immediately  re-estab- 
lished. The  Calvinists  throughout  the  whole  country  were 
deprived  of  their  churches,  their  preachers  and  even  their 
teachers  banished  beyond  the  frontiers;  while  the  prince, 
in  his  Lutheran  zeal,  persecuted  them  even  in  his  will, 
by  appointing  none  but  strict  and  orthodox  Lutherans  as 
the  guardians  of  his  son,  a  minor.  But  this  illegal  testa- 
ment was  disregarded  by  his  brother,  the  Count  Palatine, 
John  Casimir,  who,  by  the  regulations  of  the  Golden 
Bull,  assumed  the  guardianship  and  administration  of  the 
state.  Calvinistic  teachers  were  given  to  the  Elector 
Frederick  IV.,  then  only  nine  years  of  age,  who  were 
ordered,  if  necessary,  to  drive  the  Lutheran  heresy  out 
of  the  soul  of  their  pupil  with  blows.  If  such  was  the 
treatment  of  the  sovereign,  that  of  the  subjects  may  be 
easily  conceived. 

It  was  under  this  Frederick  that  the  Palatine  Court 
exerted  itself  so  vigorously  to  unite  the  Protestant  states 
of  Germany  in  joint  measures  against  the  House  of 
Austria,  and,  if  possible,  bring  about  the  formation  of  a 
general  confederacy.  Besides  that  this  court  had  always 
been  guided  by  the  counsels  of  France,  with  whom  hatred 
of  the  House  of  Austria  was  the  ruling  principle,  a  regard 
for  his  own  safety  urged  him  to  secure  in  time  the  doubt- 
ful assistance  of  the  Lutherans  against  a  near  and  over- 
whelming enemy.  Great  difficulties,  however,  opposed 
this  union,  because  the  Lutherans'  dislike  of  the  Reformed 
was  scarcely  less  than  the  common  aversion  of  both  to 
the  Romanists.  An  attempt  was  first  made  to  reconcile 
the  two  professions,  in  order  to  facilitate  a  political  union  ; 
but  all  these  attempts  failed  and  generally  ended  in  both 
parties  adhering  the  more  strongly  to  their  respective  opin- 
ions. Nothing  then  remained  but  to  increase  the  fear 
and  the  distrust  of  the  Evangelicals,  and  in  this  way  to 
impress  upon  them  the  necessity  of  this  alliance.  The 
power  of  the  Roman  Catholics  and  the  magnitude  of  the 
danger  were  exaggerated,  accidental  incidents  were 
ascribed  to  deliberate  plans,  innocent  actions  misrepre- 
sented by  invidious  constructions,  and  the  whole  conduct 
of  the  professors  of  the  olden  religion  was  interpreted  as 


THE    THIRTY  YEARS'   WAR.  45 

the  result  of  a  well-weighed  and  systematic  plan,  which, 
in  all  probability,  they  were  very  far  from  having  con- 
certed. 

The  Diet  of  Ratisbon,  to  which  the  Protestants  had 
looked  forward  with  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  renewal  of 
the  Religious  Peace,  had  broken  up  without  coming  to  a 
decision,  and  to  the  former  grievances  of  the  Protestant 
party  was  now  added  the  late  oppression  of  Donauwerth. 
With  incredible  speed  the  union,  so  long  attempted,  was 
now  brought  to  bear.  A  conference  took  place  at 
Anhausen,  in  Franconia,  at  which  were  present  the 
Elector  Frederick  IV.,  from  the  Palatinate,  the  Palsgrave 
of  Neuburg,  two  Margraves  of  Brandenburg,  the  Mar- 
grave of  Baden,  and  the  Duke  John  Frederick  of  Wir- 
temburg,  —  Lutherans  as  well  as  Calvinists,  —  who  for 
themselves  and  their  heirs  entered  into  a  close  confed- 
eracy under  the  title  of  the  Evangelical  Union.  The 
purport  of  this  union  was,  that  the  allied  princes  should, 
in  all  matters  relating  to  religion  and  their  civil  rights, 
suppoi-t  each  other  with  arms  and  counsel  against  every 
aggressor,  and  should  all  stand  as  one  man ;  that  in  case 
any  member  of  the  alliance  should  be  attacked,  he  should 
be  assisted  by  the  rest  with  an  armed  force ;  that,  if 
necessary,  the  territories,  towns,  and  castles  of  the  allied 
states  should  be  open  to  his  troops ;  and  that  whatever 
conquests  were  made  should  be  divided  among  all  the 
confederates,  in  proportion  to  the  contingent  furnished 
by  each. 

The  direction  of  the  whole  confederacy  in  time  of  peace 
was  conferred  upon  the  Elector  Palatine,  but  with  a  limit- 
ed power.  To  meet  the  necessary  expenses,  sudsidies 
were  demanded,  and  a  common  fund  established.  Differ- 
ences of  religion  (  betwixt  the  Lutherans  and  the  Calvin- 
ists) were  to  have  no  effect  on  this  alliance,  which  was  to 
subsist  for  ten  years,  every  member  of  the  union  engaged 
at  the  same  time  to  procure  new  members  to  it.  The 
Electorate  of  Brandenburg  adopted  the  alliance,  that  of 
Saxony  rejected  it.  Hesse-Cashel  could  not  be  prevailed 
upon  to  declare  itself,  the  Dukes  of  Brunswick  and  Lune- 
burg  also  hesitated.  But  the  three  cities  of  the  Empire, 
Strasburg,  Nuremburg,  and  Ulm,  were  no  unimportant 


46  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

acquisition  for  the  League,  which  was  in  great  want  of  their 
money,  while  their  example,  besides,  might  be  followed  by 
other  imperial  cities. 

After  the  formation  of  this  alliance,  the  confederate 
states,  dispirited  and,  singly,  little  feared,  adopted  a  bolder 
language.  Through  Prince  Christian  of  Anhalt  they  laid 
their  common  grievances  and  demands  before  the  Em- 
peror ;  among  which  the  principal  were  the  restoration  of 
Donauwerth,  the  abolition  of  the  Imperial  Court,  the  refor- 
mation of  the  Emperor's  own  administration  and  that  of 
his  counsellors.  For  these  remonstrances,  they  chose  the 
moment  when  the  Emperor  had  scarcely  recovered  breath 
from  the  troubles  in  his  hereditary  dominions,  —  when  he 
had  lost  Hungary  and  Austria  to  Matthias,  and  had  barely 
preserved  his  Bohemian  throne  by  the  concession  of  the 
Letter  of  Majesty,  and  finally,  when  through  the  succes- 
sion of  Juliers  he  was  already  threatened  with  the  distant 
prospect  of  a  new  war.  No  wonder,  then,  that  this  dila- 
tory prince  was  more  irresolute  than  ever  in  his  decision, 
and  that  the  confederates  took  up  arms  before  he  could 
bethink  himself. 

The  Roman  Catholics  regarded  this  confederacy  with 
a  jealous  eye ;  the  Union  viewed  them  and  the  Emperor 
with  the  like  distrust ;  the  Emperor  was  equally  suspicious 
of  both ;  and  thus,  on  all  sides,  alarm  arid  animosity  had 
reached  their  climax.  And,  as  if  to  crown  the  whole,  at 
this  critical  conjuncture,  by  the  death  of  the  Duke  John 
William  of  Juliers,  a  highly  disputable  succession  became 
vacant  in  the  territories  of  Juliers  and  Cleves. 

Eight  competitors  laid  claim  to  this  territory,  the  indi- 
visibility of  which  had  been  guaranteed  by  solemn  treaties  ; 
and  the  Emperor,  who  seemed  disposed  to  enter  upon  it  as 
a  vacant  fief,  might  be  considered  as  the  ninth.  Four  of 
these,  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  the  Count  Palatine  of 
Neuburg,  the  Count  Palatine  of  Deux  Ponts,  and  the  Mar- 
grave of  Bergau,  an  Austrian  prince,  claimed  it  as  a  female 
fief  in  name  of  four  princesses,  sisters  of  the  late  duke. 
Two  others,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  of  the  line  of  Albert, 
and  the  Duke  of  Saxony,  of  the  line  of  Ernest,  laid  claim 
to  it  under  a  prior  right  of  reversion  granted  to  them  by 
the  Emperor  Frederick  III.,  and  confirmed  to  both  Saxon 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  47 

houses  by  Maximilian  I.  The  pretensions  of  some  foreign 
princes  were  little  regarded.  The  best  right  was  perhaps 
on  the  side  of  Brandenburg  and  Neuberg,  and  between 
the  claims  of  the  two  it  was  not  easy  to  decide.  Both 
courts,  as  soon  as  the  succession  was  vacant,  proceeded  to 
take  possession ;  Brandenburg  beginning,  and  Neuberg 
following  the  example.  Both  commenced  their  dispute 
with  the  pen,  and  would  probably  have  ended  it  with  the 
sword :  but  the  interference  of  the  Emperor,  by  proceed- 
ing to  bring  the  cause  before  his  own  cognizance,  and, 
during  the  progress  of  the  suit,  sequestrating  the  disputed 
countries,  soon  brought  the  contending  parties  to  an  agree- 
ment, in  order  to  avert  the  common  danger.  They  agreed 
to  govern  the  duchy  conjointly.  In  vain  did  the  Emperor 
prohibit  the  Estates  from  doing  homage  to  their  new  mas- 
ters ;  in  vain  did  he  send  his  own  relation,  the  Archduke 
Leopold,  Bishop  of  Passau  and  Strasburg,  into  the  terri- 
tory of  Juliers,  in  order,  by  his  presence,  to  strengthen  the 
imperial  party.  The  whole  country,  with  the  exception  of 
Juliers  itself,  had  submitted  to  the  Protestant  princes,  and 
in  that  capital  the  imperialists  were  besieged. 

The  dispute  about  the  succession  of  Juliers  was  an  im- 
portant one  to  the  whole  German  Empire,  and  also  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  several  European  courts.  It  was 
not  so  much  the  question,  who  was  or  was  not  to  possess 
the  Duchy  of  Juliers;  —  the  real  question  was,  which  of 
the  two  religious  parties  in  Germany,  the  Roman  Catholic 
or  the  Protestant,  was  to  be  strengthened  by  so  important 
an  accession  —  for  which  of  the  two  religions  this  terri- 
tory was  to  be  lost  or  won.  The  question  in  short  was, 
whether  Austria  was  to  be  allowed  to  persevere  in  her 
usurpations,  and  to  gratify  her  lust  of  dominion  by  another 
robbery  ;  or  whether  the  liberties  of  Germany,  and  the 
balance  of  power,  were  to  be  maintained  against  her  en- 
croachments. The  disputed  succession  of  Juliers,  there- 
fore, was  matter  which  interested  all  who  were  favorable 
to  liberty  and  hostile  to  Austria.  The  Evangelical  Union, 
Holland,  England,  and  particularly  Henry  IV.  of  France 
were  drawn  into  the  strife. 

This  monarch,  the  flower  of  whose  life  had  been  spent 
in  opposing  the  House  of  Austria  and  Spain,  and  by  per- 


48  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

severing  heroism  alone  had  surmounted  the  obstacles 
which  this  house  had  thrown  between  him  and  the  French 
throne,  had  been  no  idle  spectator  of  the  troubles  in  Ger- 
many. This  contest  of  the  Estates  with  the  Emperor  was 
the  means  of  giving  and  securing  peace  to  France.  The 
Protestants  and  the  Turks  were  the  two  salutary  weights 
which  kept  down  the  Austrian  power  in  the  East  and 
West :  but  it  would  rise  again  in  all  its  terrors,  if  once  it 
were  allowed  to  remove  this  pressure.  Henry  IV.  had 
before  his  eyes  for  half  a  lifetime  the  uninterrupted  spec- 
tacle of  Austrian  ambition  and  Austrian  lust  of  domin- 
ion, which  neither  adversity  nor  poverty  of  talents,  though 
generally  they  check  all  human  passions,  could  extinguish 
in  a  bosom  wherein  flowed  one  drop  of  the  blood  of 
Ferdinand  of  Arragon.  Austrian  ambition  had  destroyed 
for  a  century  the  peace  of  Europe,  and  effected  the 
most  violent  changes  in  the  heart  of  its  most  considerable 
states.  It  had  deprived  the  fields  of  husbandmen,  the 
workshops  of  artisans,  to  fill  the  land  with  enormous 
armies,  and  to  cover  the  commercial  sea  with  hostile  fleets. 
It  had  imposed  upon  the  princes  of  Europe  the  necessity 
of  fettering  the  industry  of  their  subjects  by  unheard-of 
imposts ;  and  of  wasting  in  self-defence  the  best  strength 
of  their  states,  which  was  thus  lost  to  the  prosperity  of 
their  inhabitants.  For  Europe  there  was  no  peace,  for  its 
states  no  welfare,  for  the  people's  happiness  no  security 
or  permanence,  so  long  as  this  dangerous  house  was  per- 
mitted to  disturb  at  pleasure  the  repose  of  the  world. 

Such  considerations  clouded  the  mind  of  Henry  at  the 
close  of  his  glorious  career.  What  had  it  not  cost  him  to 
reduce  to  order  the  troubled  chaos  into  which  France  had 
been  plunged  by  the  tumult  of  civil  war,  fomented  and 
supported  by  this  very  Austria !  Every  great  mind  labors 
for  eternity  ;  and  what  security  had  Henry  for  the  endur- 
ance of  that  prosperity,  which  he  had  gained  for  France, 
so  long  as  Austria  and  Spain  formed  a  single  power, 
which  did  indeed  lie  exhausted  for  the  present,  but  which 
required  only  one  lucky  chance  to  be  speedily  reunited, 
and  to  spring  up  again  as  formidable  as  ever.  If  he  would 
bequeath  to  his  successors  a  firmly  established  throne,  and 
a  durable  prosperity  to  his  subjects,  this  dangerous  power 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  49 

must  bo  forever  disarmed.  This  was  the  source  of  that 
irreconcilable  eumity  which  Henry  had  sworn  to  the 
House  of  Austria,  a  haired  unextinguishable,  ardent,  and 
well-founded  as  that  of  Hannibal  against  the  people  of 
Romulus,  but  ennobled  by  a  purer  origin. 

The  other  European  powers  had  the  same  inducements 
to  action  as  Henry,  but  all  of  them  had  not  that  enlight- 
ened policy,  nor  that  disinterested  courage  to  act  upon 
the  impulse.  All  men,  without  distinction,  are  allured  by 
immediate  advantages ;  great  minds  alone  are  excited  by 
distant  good.  So  long  as  wisdom  in  its  projects  calculates 
upon  wisdom,  or  relies  upon  its  own  strength,  it  forms 
none  but  chimerical  schemes,  and  runs  a  risk  of  making 
itself  the  laughter  of  the  world  ;  but  it  is  certain  of  suc- 
cess, and  may  reckon  upon  aid  and  admiration  when  it 
finds  a  place  in  its  intellectual  plans  for  barbarism,  rapac- 
ity, and  superstition,  and  can  render  the  selfish  passions 
of  mankind  the  executors  of  its  purposes. 

In  the  first  point  of  view,  Henry's  well-known  project 
of  expelling  the  House  of  Austria  from  all  its  possessions, 
and  dividing  the  spoil  among  the  European  powers,  de- 
serves the  title  of  a  chimera,  which  men  have  so  liberally 
bestowed  upon  it;  but  did  it  merit  that  appellation  in  the 
second  ?  It  had  never  entered  into  the  head  of  that  excel- 
lent monarch,  in  the  choice  of  those  who  must  be  the 
instruments  of  his  designs,  to  reckon  on  the  sufficiency  of 
such  motives  as  animated  himself  and  Sully  to  the  enter- 
prise. All  the'  states  whose  co-operation  was  necessary 
were  to  be  persuaded  to  the  work  by  the  strongest  motives 
that  can  set  a  political  power  in  action.  From  the  Prot- 
estants in  Germany  nothing  more  was  required  than  that 
which,  on  other  grounds,  had  been  long  their  object, 
—  their  throwing  off  the  Austrian  yoke;  from  the  Flem- 
ings, a  similar  revolt  from  the  Spaniards.  To  the  Pope 
and  all  the  Italian  republics  no  inducement  could  be  more 
powerful  than  the  hope  of  driving  the  Spaniards  forever 
from  their  peninsula ;  for  England,  nothing  more  desirable 
than  a  revolution  which  should  free  it  from  its  bitterest 
enemy.  By  this  division  of  the  Austrian  conquests  every 
power  gained  either  land  or  freedom,  new  possessions  or 
security  for  the  old  ;  and,  as  all  gained,  the  balance  of 


50  THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

power  remained  undisturbed.  France  might  magnani- 
mously decline  a  share  in  the  spoil,  because  by  the  ruin 
of  Austria  it  doubly  profited,  and  was  most  powerful  if 
it  did  not  become  more  powerful.  Finally,  upon  condi- 
tion of  ridding  Europe  of  their  presence,  the  posterity  of 
Hapsburg  were  to  be  allowed  the  liberty  of  augmenting 
her  territories  in  all  the  other  known  or  yet  undiscovered 
portions  of  the  globe.  But  the  dagger  of  Ravaillac  deliv- 
ered Austria  from  her  danger,  to  postpone  for  some  cen- 
turies longer  the  tranquillity  of  Europe. 

With  his  view  directed  to  this  project,  Henry  felt  the 
necessity  of  taking  a  prompt  and  active  part  in  the  impor- 
tant events  of  the  Evangelical  Union,  and  the  disputed 
succession  of  Juliers.  His  emissaries  were  busy  in  all  the 
courts  of  Germany,  and  the  little  which  they  published  or 
allowed  to  escape  of  the  great  political  secrets  of  their 
master  was  sufficient  to  win  over  minds  inflamed  by  so 
ardent  a  hatred  to  Austria,  and  by  so  strong  a  desire  of 
aggrandizement.  The  prudent  policy  of  Henry  cemented 
the  Union  still  more  closely,  and  the  powerful  aid  which 
he  bound  himself  to  furnish  raised  the  courage  of  the 
confederates  into  the  firmest  confidence.  A  numerous 
French  army,  led  by  the  king  in  person,  was  to  meet  the 
troops  of  the  Union  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and  to 
assist  in  effecting  the  conquest  of  Juliers  and  Cleves; 
then,  in  conjunction  with  the  Germans,  it  was  to  march 
into  Italy  (where  Savoy,  Venice,  and  the  Pope  were  even 
now  ready  with  a  powerful  reinforcement),  and  to  over- 
throw the  Spanish  dominion  in  that  quarter.  This  victo- 
rious army  was  then  to  penetrate  by  Lombardy  into  the 
hereditary  dominions  of  Hapsburg ;  and  there,  favored 
by  a  general  insurrection  of  the  Protestants,  destroy  the 
power  of  Austria  in  all  its  German  territories,  in  Bohemia, 
Hungary,  and  Transylvania.  The  Brabanters  and  Hol- 
landers, supported  by  French  auxiliaries,  would  in  the 
meantime  shake  off  the  Spanish  tyranny  in  the  Nether- 
lands, and  thus  the  mighty  stream  which,  only  a  short  time 
before,  had  so  fearfully  overflowed  its  banks,  threatening  to 
overwhelm  in  its  troubled  waters  the  liberties  of  Europe, 
would  then  roll  silent  and  forgotten  behind  the  Pyrenean 
mountains. 


THE   THIRTY  YEARS*  WAE.  51 

At  other  times  the  French  had  boasted  of  their  rapidity 
of  action,  but  upon  this  occasion  they  were  outstripped 
by  the  Germans.  An  army  of  the  confederates  entered 
Alsace  before  Henry  made  his  appearance  there,  and  an 
Austrian  army,  which  the  Bishop  of  Strasburg  and  Passau 
had  assembled  in  that  quarter  for  an  expedition  against 
Juliers,  was  dispersed.  Henry  IV.  had  formed  his  plan 
as  a  statesman  and  a  king,  but  he  had  intrusted  its  execu- 
tion to  plunderers.  According  to  his  design,  no  Roman 
Catholic  state  was  to  have  cause  to  think  this  preparation 
aimed  against  itself,  or  to  make  the  quarrel  of  Austria  its 
own.  Religion  was  in  nowise  to  be  mixed  up  vith  the 
matter.  But  how  could  the  German  princes  forget  their 
own  purposes  in  furthering  the  plans  of  Henry  ?  Actuated 
as  they  were  by  the  desire  of  aggrandizement  and  by 
religious  hatred,  was  it  to  be  supposed  that  they  would 
not  gratify,  in  every  passing  opportunity,  their  ruling  pas- 
sions to  the  utmost?  Like  vultures,  they  stooped  upon 
the  territories  of  the  ecclesiastical  princes,  and  always 
chose  those  rich  countries  for  their  quarters,  though  to 
reach  them  they  must  make  ever  so  wide  a  detour  from 
their  direct  route.  They  levied  contributions  as  in  an 
enemy's  country,  seized  upon  the  revenues,  and  exacted 
by  violence  what  they  could  not  obtain  of  free-will.  Not 
to  leave  the  Roman  Catholics  in  doubt  as  to  the  true 
objects  of  their  expedition,  they  announced,  openly  and 
intelligibly  enough,  the  fate  that  awaited  the  property  of 
the  church.  So  little  had  Henry  IV.  and  the  German 
princes  understood  each  other  in  their  plan  of  operations, 
so  much  had  the  excellent  king  been  mistaken  in  his  instru- 
ments .  It  is  an  unfailing  maxim,  that,  if  policy  enjoins 
an  act  of  violence,  its  execution  ought  never  to  be  entrust- 
ed to  the  violent ;  and  that  he  only  ought  to  be  trusted 
with  the  violation  of  order  by  whom  order  is  held  sacred. 

Both  the  past  conduct  of  the  Union,  which  was  con- 
demned even  by  several  of  the  evangelical  states,  and  the 
apprehension  of  even  woi'se  treatment,  aroused  the  Roman 
Catholics  to  something  beyond  mere  inactive  indignation. 
As  to  the  Emperor,  his  authority  had  sunk  too  low  to 
afford  them  any  security  against  such  an  enemy.  It  was 
their  Union  that  rendered  the  confederates  so  formidable 


52  THE   THIRTY  YEARS*  WAR. 

and  so  insolent ;  and  another  union  must  now  be  opposed 
to  them. 

The  Bishop  of  Wurtzburg  formed  the  plan  of  the  Cath- 
olic Union,  which  was  distinguished  from  the  evangelical 
by  the  title  of  the  League.  The  objects  agreed  upon 
were  nearly  the  same  as  those  which  constituted  the 
groundwork  of  the  Union.  Bishops  formed  its  principal 
members,  and  at  its  head  was  placed  Maximilian,  Duke  of 
Bavaria.  As  the  only  influential  secular  member  of  the 
confederacy,  he  was  entrusted  with  far  more  extensive 
powers  than  the  Protestants  had  committed  to  their  chief. 
In  addition  to  the  Duke's  being  the  sole  head  of  the 
League's  military  power,  whereby  their  operations  ac- 
quired a  speed  and  weight  unattainable  by  the  Union, 
they  had  also  the  advantage  that  supplies  flowed  in  much 
more  regularly  from  the  rich  prelates,  than  the  latter 
could  obtain  them  from  the  poor  evangelical  states. 
Without  offering  to  the  Emperor,  as  the  sovereign  of  a 
Roman  Catholic  state,  any  share  in  their  confederacy, 
without  ever  communicating  its  existence  to  him  as 
Emperor,  the  League  arose  at  once  formidable  and 
threatening ;  with  strength  sufficient  to  crush  the  Protest- 
ant Union  and  to  maintain  itself  under  three  emperors. 
It  contended,  indeed,  for  Austria,  in  so  far  as  it  fought 
against  the  Protestant  princes ;  but  Austria  herself  had 
soon  cause  to  tremble  before  it. 

The  arms  of  the  Union  had,  in  the  meantime,  been 
tolerably  successful  in  Juliers  and  in  Alsace  ;  Juliers  was 
closely  blockaded,  and  the  whole  bishopric  of  Strasburg 
was  in  their  power.  But  here  their  splendid  achieve- 
ments came  to  an  end.  No  French  army  appeared 
upon  the  Rhine;  for  he  who  was  to  be  its  leader,  he  who 
was  the  animating  soul  of  the  whole  enterprise,  Henry 
IV.,  was  no  more !  Their  supplies  were  on  the  wane ;  the 
Estates  refused  to  grant  new  subsidies ;  and  the  confeder- 
ate free  cities  were  offended  that  their  money  should 
be  liberally,  but  their  advice  so  sparingly  called  for. 
Especially  were  they  displeased  at  being  put  to  expense 
for  the  expedition  against  Juliers,  which  had  been 
expressly  excluded  from  the  affairs  of  the  Union  —  at  the 
united  princes  appropriating  to  themselves  large  pensions 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAB.  53 

out  of  the  common  treasure  —  and,  above  all,  at  their 
refusing  to  give  any  account  of  its  expenditure. 

The  Union  was  thus  verging  to  its  fall  at  the  moment 
when  the  League  started  to  oppose  it  in  the  vigor  of  its 
strength.  Want  of  supplies  disabled  the  confederates 
from  any  longer  keeping  the  field.  And  yet  it  was 
dangerous  to  lay  down  their  weapons  in  the  sight  of  an 
armed  enemy.  To  secure  themselves  at  least  on  one  side 
they  hastened  to  conclude  a  peace  with  their  old  enemy, 
the  Archduke  Leopold  ;  and  both  parties  agreed  to  with- 
draw their  troops  from  Alsace,  to  exchange  prisoners, 
and  to  bury  all  that  had  been  done  in  oblivion.  Thus 
ended  in  nothing  all  these  promising  preparations. 

The  same  imperious  tone  with  which  the  Union,  in  the 
confidence  of  its  strength,  had  menaced  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics of  Germany,  was  now  retorted  by  the  League  upon 
themselves  and  their  troops.  The  traces  of  their  march 
were  pointed  out  to  them,  and  plainly  branded  with  the 
hard  epithets  they  had  deserved.  The  chapters  of 
Wurtzburg,  Bamberg,  Strasburg,  Mentz,  Treves,  Cologne, 
and  several  others,  had  experienced  their  destructive 
presence ;  to  all  these  the  damage  done  was  to  be  made 
good,  the  free  passage  by  land  and  by  water  restored 
(for  the  Protestants  had  even  seized  on  the  navigation  of 
the  Rhine),  and  everything  replaced  on  its  former  footing. 
Above  all,  the  parties  to  the  Union  were  called  on  to 
declare  expressly  and  unequivocally  its  intentions.  It 
was  now  their  turn  to  yield  to  superior  strength.  They 
had  not  calculated  on  so  formidable  an  opponent;  but 
they  themselves  had  taught  the  Roman  Catholics  the 
secret  of  their  strength.  It  was  humiliating  to  their  pride 
to  sue  for  peace,  but  they  might  think  themselves  for- 
tunate in  obtaining  it.  The  one  party  promised  restitu- 
tion, the  other  forgiveness.  All  laid  down  their  arms. 
The  storm  of  war  once  more  rolled  by,  and  a  temporary 
calm  succeeded.  The  insurrection  in  Bohemia  then  broke 
out,  which  deprived  the  Emperor  of  the  last  of  his  hered- 
itary dominions,  but  in  this  dispute  neither  the  Union  nor 
the  League  took  any  share. 

At  length  the  Emperor  died,  in  1612,  as  little  regretted 
in  his  coffin  as  noticed  on  the  throne.  Long  afterwards, 


54  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

when  the  miseries  of  succeeding  reigns  had  made  the 
misfortunes  of  his  reign  forgotten,  a  halo  spread  about 
his  memory,  and  so  fearful  a  night  set  in  upon  Germany 
that,  with  tears  of  blood,  people  prayed  for  the  return  of 
such  an  emperor. 

Rodolph  never  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  choose  a 
successor  in  the  Empire,  and  all  awaited  with  anxiety  the 
approaching  vacancy  of  the  throne;  but,  beyond  all 
hope,  Matthias  at  once  ascended  it,  and  without  oppo- 
sition. The  Roman  Catholics  gave  him  their  voices, 
because  they  hoped  the  best  from  his  vigor  and  activity ; 
the  Protestants  gave  him  theirs,  because  they  hoped 
everything  from  his  weakness.  It  was  not  difficult  to 
reconcile  this  contradiction.  The  one  relied  on  what  he 
had  once  appeared;  the  other  judged  him  by  what  he 
seemed  at  present. 

The  moment  of  a  new  accession  is  always  a  day  of 
hope ;  and  the  first  Diet  of  a  king  in  elective  monarchies 
is  usually  his  severest  trial.  Every  old  grievance  is 
brought  forward,  and  new  ones  are  sought  out,  that  they 
may  be  included  in  the  expected  reform ;  quite  a  new 
world  is  expected  to  commence  with  the  new  reign.  The 
important  services  which,  in  his  insurrection,  their  relig- 
ious confederates  in  Austria  had  rendered  to  Matthias, 
were  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  Protestant  free  cities, 
and,  above  all,  the  price  which  they  had  exacted  for  their 
services  seemed  now  to  serve  them  also  as  a  model. 

It  was  by  the  favor  of  the  Protestant  Estates  in 
Austria  and  Moravia  that  Matthias  had  sought  and  really 
found  the  way  to  his  brother's  throne ;  but,  hurried  on 
by  his  ambitious  views,  he  never  reflected  that  a  way  was 
thus  opened  for  the  States  to  give  laws  to  their  sovereign. 
This  discovery  soon  awoke  him  from  the  intoxication  of 
success.  Scarcely  had  he  shown  himself  in  triumph  to 
his  Austrian  subjects,  after  his  victorious  expedition  to 
Bohemia,  when  an  humble  petition  awaited  him  which  was 
quite  sufficient  to  poison  his  whole  triumph.  They 
required,  before  doing  homage,  unlimited  religious  toler- 
ation in  the  cities  and  market  towns,  perfect  equality  of 
rights  between  Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  a 
full  and  equal  admissibility  of  the  latter  to  all  offices  of 


THE   THIRTY  YEARS*   WAK.  55 

state.  In  several  places  they  of  themselves  assumed 
these  privileges,  and,  reckoning  on  a  change  of  adminis- 
tration, restored  the  Protestant  religion  where  the  late 
Emperor  had  suppressed  it.  Matthias,  it  is  true,  had  not 
scrupled  to  make  use  of  the  grievances  of  the  Protestants 
for  his  own  ends  against  the  Emperor ;  but  it  was  far 
from  being  his  intention  to  relieve  them.  By  a  firm  and 
resolute  tone  he  hoped  to  check  at  once  these  presump- 
tuous demands.  He  spoke  of  his  hereditary  title  to  these 
territories,  and  would  hear  of  no  stipulations  before  the 
act  of  homage.  A  like  unconditional  submission  had 
been  rendered  by  their  neighbors,  the  inhabitants  of 
Styria,  to  the  Archduke  Ferdinand,  who,  however,  had 
soon  reason  to  repent  of  it.  Wai'ned  by  this  example, 
the  Austrian  States  persisted  in  their  refusal ;  and,  to 
avoid  being  compelled  by  force  to  do  homage,  their 
deputies  (after  urging  their  Roman  Catholic  colleagues 
to  a  similar  resistance)  immediately  left  the  capital,  and 
began  to  levy  troops. 

They  took  steps  to  renew  their  old  alliance  with 
Hungary,  drew  the  Protestant  princes  into  their  interests, 
and  set  themselves  seriously  to  work  to  accomplish  their 
object  by  force  of  arms. 

With  the  more  exorbitant  demands  of  the  Hungarians 
Matthias  had  not  hesitated  to  comply.  For  Hungary 
was  an  elective  monarchy,  and  the  republican  constitution 
of  the  country  justified  to  himself  their  demands,  and  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  world  his  concessions.  In  Austria, 
on  the  contrary,  his  predecessors  had  exercised  far 
higher  prerogatives,  which  he  could  not  relinquish  at  the 
demand  of  the  Estates  without  incurring  the  scorn  of 
Roman  Catholic  Europe,  the  enmity  of  Spain  and  Rome, 
and  the  contempt  of  his  own  Roman  Catholic  subjects. 
His  exclusively  Romish  council,  among  which  the  Bishop 
of  Vienna,  Melchio  Kiesel,  had  the  chief  influence, 
exhorted  him  to  see  all  the  churches  extorted  from  him 
by  the  Protestants  rather  than  to  concede  one  to  them 
as  a  matter  of  right. 

But  by  ill  luck  this  difficulty  occurred  at  a  time  when 
the  Emperor  Rodolph  was  yet  alive  and  a  spectator  of 
this  scene,  and  who  might  easily  have  been  tempted  to 


56  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

employ  against  his  brother  the  same  weapons  which  the 
latter  had  successfully  directed  against  him  —  namely,  an 
understanding  with  his  rebellious  subjects.  To  avoid 
this  blow,  Matthias  willingly  availed  himself  of  the  offer 
made  by  Moravia,  to  act  as  mediator  between  him  and 
the  Estates  of  Austria.  Representatives  of  both  parties 
met  in  Vienna,  when  the  Austrian  deputies  held  language 
which  would  have  excited  surprise  even  in  the  English 
Parliament.  "  The  Protestants,"  they  said,  "  are  deter- 
mined to  be  not  worse  treated  in  their  native  country 
than  the  handful  of  Romanists.  By  the  help  of  his 
Protestant  nobles  had  Matthias  reduced  the  Emperor  to 
submission;  where  eighty  Papists  were  to  be  found  three 
hundred  Protestant  barons  might  be  counted.  The  ex- 
ample of  Rodolph  should  be  a  warning  to  Matthias.  He 
should  take  care  that  he  did  not  lose  the  terrestrial  in  at- 
tempting to  make  conquests  for  the  celestial."  As  the 
Moravian  States,  instead  of  using  their  powers  as  mediators 
for  the  Emperor's  advantage,  finally  adopted  the  cause  of 
their  co-religionists  of  Austria ;  as  the  Union  in  Germany 
came  forward  to  afford  them  its  most  active  support,  and 
as  Matthias  dreaded  reprisals  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor, 
he  was  at  length  compelled  to  make  the  desired  declara- 
tion in  favor  of  the  Evangelical  Church. 

This  behavior  of  the  Austrian  Estates  towards  their 
Archduke  was  now  imitated  by  the  Protestant  Estates 
of  the  Empire  towards  their  Emperor,  and  they  promised 
themselves  the  same  favorable  results.  At  his  first  Diet 
at  Ratisbon,  in  1613,  when  the  most  pressing  affairs  were 
waiting  for  decision  —  when  a  general  contribution  was  in- 
dispensable for  a  war  against  Turkey,  and  against  Bethlem 
Gabor  in  Transylvania,  who  by  Turkish  aid  had  forcibly 
usurped  the  sovereignty  of  that  land,  and  even  threatened 
Hungary — they  surprised  him  with  an  entirely  new  de- 
mand. The  Roman  Catholic  votes  were  still  the  most  numer- 
ous in  the  Diet ;  and  as  everything  was  decided  by  a  plural- 
ity of  voices,  the  Protestant  party,  however  closely  united, 
were  entirely  without  consideration.  The  advantage  of 
this  majority  the  Roman  Catholics  were  now  called  on  to 
relinquish ;  henceforward  no  one  religious  party  was  to 
be  permitted  to  dictate  to  the  other  by  means  of  its 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  57 

invariable  superiority.  And,  in  truth,  if  the  evangelical 
religion  was  really  to  be  represented  in  the  Diet,  it  was 
self-evident  that  it  must  not  be  shut  out  from  the  possi- 
bility of  making  use  of  that  privilege,  merely  from  the 
constitution  of  the  Diet  itself.  Complaints  of  the  judi- 
cial usurpations  of  the  Aulic  Council,  and  of  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  Protestants,  accompanied  this  demand,  and 
the  deputies  of  the  Estates  were  instructed  to  take  no 
part  in  any  general  deliberations  till  a  favorable  answer 
should  be  given  on  this  preliminary  point. 

The  Diet  was  torn  asunder  by  this  dangerous  division, 
which  threatened  to  destroy  forever  the  unity  of  its  de- 
liberations. Sincerely  as  the  Emperor  might  have  wished, 
after  the  example  of  his  father,  Maximilian,  to  preserve  a 
prudent  balance  between  the  two  religions,  the  present 
conduct  of  the  Protestants  seemed  to  leave  him  nothing 
but  a  critical  choice  between  the  two.  In  his  present 
necessities  a  general  contribution  from  the  Estates  was 
indispensable  to  him  ;  and  yet  he  could  not  conciliate  the 
one  party  without  sacrificing  the  support  of  the  other. 
Insecure  as  he  felt  his  situation  to  be  in  his  own  heredi- 
tary dominions,  he  could  not  but  tremble  at  the  idea, 
however  remote,  of  an  open  war  with  the  Protestants. 
But  the  eyes  of  the  whole  Roman  Catholic  world,  which 
were  attentively  regarding  his  conduct,  the  remonstrances 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Estates,  and  of  the  Courts  of  Rome 
and  Spain,  as  little  permitted  him  to  favor  the  Protestant 
at  the  expense  of  the  Romish  religion. 

So  critical  a  situation  would  have  paralyzed  a  greater 
mind  than  Matthias ;  and  his  own  prudence  would  scarcely 
have  extricated  him  from  his  dilemma.  But  the  interests 
of  the  Roman  Catholics  were  closely  interwoven  with  the 
imperial  authority;  if  they  suffered  this  to  fall  the 
ecclesiastical  princes  in  particular  would  be  without  a 
bulwark  against  the  attacks  of  the  Protestants.  Now, 
then,  that  they  saw  the  Emperor  wavering,  they  thought 
it  high  time  to  reassure  his  sinking  courage.  They 
imparted  to  him  the  secret  of  their  League,  and  ac- 
quainted him  with  its  whole  constitution,  resources,  and 
power.  Little  comforting  as  such  a  revelation  must  have 
been  to  the  Emperor,  the  prospect  of  so  powerful  a 


58  THE   THIRTY  YEARS*  WAR. 

support  gave  him  greater  boldness  to  oppose  the  Prot- 
estants. Their  demands  were  rejected,  and  the  Diet 
broke  up  without  coming  to  a  decision.  But  Matthias 
was  the  victim  of  this  dispute.  The  Protestants  refused 
him  their  supplies,  and  made  him  alone  suffer  for  the 
inflexibility  of  the  Roman  Catholics. 

The  Turks,  however,  appeared  willing  to  prolong  the 
cessation  of  hostilities,  and  Bethlern  Gabor  was  left  in 
peaceable  possession  of  Transylvania.  The  empire  was 
now  free  from  foreign  enemies ;  and  even  at  home,  in  the 
midst  of  all  these  fearful  disputes,  peace  still  reigned. 
An  unexpected  accident  had  given  a  singular  turn  to  the 
dispute  as  to  the  succession  of  Juliers.  This  duchy  was 
still  ruled  conjointly  by  the  Electoral  House  of  Branden- 
burg and  the  Palatine  of  Neuberg:  and  a  marriage 
between  the  Prince  of  Neuberg  and  a  Princess  of  Branden- 
burg was  to  have  inseparably  united  the  interests  of  the  two 
houses.  But  the  whole  scheme  was  upset  by  a  box  on 
the  ear,  which,  in  a  drunken  brawl,  the  Elector  of 
Brandenburg  unfortunately  inflicted  upon  his  intended 
son-in-law.  From  this  moment  the  good  understanding 
between  the  two  houses  was  at  an  end.  The  Prince  of 
Neuberg  embraced  popery.  The  hand  of  a  princess  of 
Bavaria  rewarded  his  apostasy,  and  the  strong  support  of 
Bavaria  and  Spain  was  the  natural  result  of  both.  To 
secure  to  the  Palatine  the  exclusive  possession  of  Juliers, 
the  Spanish  troops  from  the  Netherlands  were  marched 
into  the  Palatinate.  To  rid  himself  of  these  guests,  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg  called  the  Flemings  to  his 
assistance,  whom  he  sought  to  propitiate  by  embracing 
the  Calvinist  religion.  Both  Spanish  and  Dutch  armies 
appeared,  but,  as  it  seemed,  only  to  make  conquests  for 
themselves. 

The  neighboring  war  of  the  Netherlands  seemed  now 
about  to  be  decided  on  German  ground ;  and  what  an 
inexhaustible  mine  of  combustibles  lay  here  ready  for  it ! 
The  Protestants  saw  with  consternation  the  Spaniards 
establishing  themselves  upon  the  Lower  Rhine  ;  with  still 
greater  anxiety  did  the  Roman  Catholics  see  the  Hol- 
landers bursting  through  the  frontiers  of  the  empire. 
It  was  in  the  west  that  the  mine  was  expected  to  explode 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  59 

•which  had  long  been  dug  under  the  whole  of  Germany. 
To  the  west  apprehension  and  anxiety  turned ;  but  the 
spark  which  kindled  the  flame  came  unexpectedly  from 
the  east. 

The  tranquillity  w*hich  the  Letter  of  Majesty  of 
Rodolph  II.  had  established  in  Bohemia  lasted  for  some 
time  under  the  administration  of  Matthias,  till  the 
nomination  of  a  new  heir  to  this  kingdom  in  the  person 
of  Ferdinand  of  Gratz. 

This  prince,  whom  we  shall  afterwards  become  better 
acquainted  with  under  the  title  of  Ferdinand  II.,-  Em- 
peror of  Germany,  had,  by  the  violent  extirpation  of  the 
Protestant  religion  within  his  hereditary  dominions,  an- 
nounced himself  as  an  inexorable  zealot  for  popery,  and 
w.-is  consequently  looked  upon  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
part  of  Bohemia  as  the  future  pillar  of  their  church. 
T!K>  declining  health  of  the  Emperor  brought  on  this 
hour  rapidly ;  and,  relying  on  so  powerful  a  supporter, 
the  Bohemian  Papists  began  to  treat  the  Protestants  with 
little  moderation.  The  Protestant  vassals  of  Roman 
Catholic  nobles,  in  particular,  experienced  the  harshest 
treatment.  At  length  several  of  the  former  were  in- 
cautious enough  to  speak  somewhat  loudly  of  their  hopes, 
and  by  threatening  hints  to  awaken  among  the  Prot- 
estants a  suspicion  of  their  future  sovereign.  But  this 
mistrust  would  never  have  broken  out  into  actual 
violence  had  the  Roman  Catholics  confined  themselves 
to  general  expressions,  and  not  by  attacks  on  individuals 
furnished  the  discontent  of  the  people  with  enterprising 
leaders. 

Henry  Matthias,  Count  Thurn,  not  a  native  of  Bohemia, 
but  proprietor  of  some  estates  in  that  kingdom,  had,  by 
his  zeal  for  the  Protestant  cause,  and  an  enthusiastic 
attachment  to  his  newly-adopted  country,  gained  the 
entire  confidence  of  the  Utraquists,  which  opened  him 
the  way  to  the  most  important  posts.  He  had  fought 
with  great  glory  against  the  Turks,  and  won  by  a 
flattering  address  the  hearts  of  the  multitude.  Of  a  hot 
and  impetuous  disposition,  which  loved  tumult  because 
his  talents  shone  in  it  —  rash  and  thoughtless  enough  to 
undertake  things  which  cold  prudence  and  a  calmer 


60  THE   THIRTY  YEARS*  WAR. 

temper  would  not  have  ventured  upon  —  unscrupulous 
enough,  where  the  gratification  of  his  passions  was  con- 
cerned, to  sport  with  the  fate  of  thousands,  and  at  the 
same  time  politic  enough  to  hold  in  leading-strings  such 
a  people  as  the  Bohemians  then  were.  He  had  already 
taken  an  active  part  in  the  troubles  under  Rodolph's 
administration;  and  the  Letter  of  Majesty  which  the 
States  had  extorted  from  that  Emperor  was  chiefly  to  be 
laid  to  his  merit.  The  court  had  entrusted  to  him,  as 
burgrave  or  castellan  of  Calstein,  the  custody  of  the 
Bohemian  crown  and  of  the  national  charter.  But  the 
nation  had  placed  in  his  hands  something  far  more 
important  —  itself — with  the  office  of  defender  or  pro- 
tector of  the  faith.  The  aristocracy,  by  which  the 
Emperor  wras  ruled,  imprudently  deprived  him  of  this 
harmless  guardianship  of  the  dead,  to  leave  him  his  full 
influence  over  the  living.  They  took  him  from  his  office 
of  burgrave,  or  constable  of  the  castle,  which  had  rendered 
him  dependent  on  the  court,  thereby  opening  his  eyes 
to  the  importance  of  the  other  which  remained,  and 
wounded  his  vanity,  which  yet  was  the  thing  that  made 
his  ambition  harmless.  From  this  moment  he  was  act- 
uated solely  by  a  desire  of  revenge ;  and  the  opportunity 
of  gratifying  it  was  not  long  wanting. 

In  the  Royal  Letter  which  the  Bohemians  had  extorted 
from  Rodolph  II.,  as  well  as  in  the  German  religious 
treaty,  one  material  article  remained  undetermined.  All 
the  privileges  granted  by  the  latter  to  the  Protestants 
were  conceived  in  favor  of  the  Estates  or  governing 
bodies,  not  of  the  subjects;  for  only  to  those  of  the 
ecclesiastical  states  had  a  toleration,  and  that  precarious, 
been  conceded.  The  Bohemian  Letter  of  Majesty,  in  the 
same  manner,  spoke  only  of  the  Estates  and  imperial 
towns,  the  magistrates  of  which  had  contrived  to  obtain 
equal  privileges  with  the  former.  These  alone  were  free 
to  erect  churches  and  schools,  and  openly  to  celebrate 
their  Protestant  worship;  in  all  other  towns,  it  was  left 
entirely  to  the  government  to  which  they  belonged  to 
determine  the  religion  of  the  inhabitants.  The  Estates  of 
the  Empire  had  availed  themselves  of  this  privilege  in  its 
fullest  extent ;  the  secular,  indeed,  without  opposition ; 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAB.  61 

while  the  ecclesiastical,  in  whose  case  the  declaration  of 
Ferdinand  had  limited  this  privilege,  disputed,  not  with- 
out reason,  the  validity  of  that  limitation.  What  was  a 
disputed  point  in  the  religious  treaty  was  left  still  more 
doubtful  in  the  Letter  of  Majesty ;  in  the  former  the 
construction  was  not  doubtful,  but  it  was  a  question  how 
far  obedience  might  be  compulsory ;  in  the  latter  the 
interpretation  was  left  to  the  states.  The  subjects  of  the 
ecclesiastical  Estates  in  Bohemia  thought  themselves 
entitled  to  the  same  rights  which  the  declaration  of 
Ferdinand  secured  to  the  subjects  of  German  bishops; 
they  considered  themselves  on  an  equality  with  the 
subjects  of  imperial  towns,  because  they  looked  upon  the 
ecclesiastical  property  as  part  of  the  royal  demesnes.  In 
the  little  town  of  Klostergrab,  subject  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Prague,  and  in  Braunau,  which  belonged  to  the  abbot 
of  that  monastery,  churches  were  founded  by  the  Prot- 
estants, and  completed,  notwithstanding  the  opposition 
of  their  superiors  and  the  disapprobation  of  the  Emperor. 
In  the  meantime  the  vigilance  of  the  defenders  had 
somewhat  relaxed,  and  the  court  thought  it  might  venture 
on  a  decisive  step.  By  the  Emperor's  orders  the  church 
at  Klostergrab  was  pulled  down,  that  at  Braunau  forcibly 
shut  up,  and  the  most  turbulent  of  the  citizens  thrown 
into  prison.  A  general  commotion  among  the  Protestants 
was  the  consequence  of  this  measure ;  a  loud  outcry  was 
everywhere  raised  at  this  violation  of  the  Letter  of 
Majesty ;  and  Count  Thurn,  animated  by  revenge,  and 
particularly  called  upon  by  his  office  of  defender,  showed 
himself  not  a  little  busy  inflaming  the  minds  of  the 
people.  At  his  instigation  deputies  were  summoned  to 
Prague  from  every  circle  in  the  empire,  to  concert  the 
necessary  measures  against  the  common  danger.  It  was 
resolved  to  petition  the  Emperor  to  press  for  the  libera- 
tion of  the  prisoners.  The  answer  of  the  Emperor, 
already  offensive  to  the  states,  from  its  being  addressed, 
not  to  them,  but  to  his  viceroy,  denounced  their  conduct 
as  illegal  and  rebellious,  justified  what  had  been  done  at 
Klostergarb  and  Braunau  as  the  result  of  an  imperial 
mandate,  and  contained  some  passages  that  might  be 
construed  into  threats. 


62  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

Count  Thurn  did  not  fail  to  augment  the  unfavorable 
impression  which  this  imperial  edict  made  upon  the 
assembled  Estates.  He  pointed  out  to  them  the  danger 
in  which  all  who  had  signed  the  petition  were  involved, 
and  sought  by  working  on  their  resentment  and  fears  to 
hurry  them  into  violent  resolutions.  To  have  caused 
their  immediate  revolt  against  the  Emperor  would  have 
been,  as  yet,  too  bold  a  measure.  It  was  only  step  by 
step  that  he  would  lead  them  on  to  this  unavoidable 
result.  He  held  it,  therefore,  advisable  first  to  direct 
their  indignation  against  the  Emperor's  counsellors  ;  and 
for  that  purpose  circulated  a  report  that  the  imperial 
proclamation  had  been  drawn  up  by  the  government  at 
Prague,  and  only  signed  in  Vienna.  Among  the  imperial 
delegates,  the  chief  objects  of  the  popular  hatred,  were 
the  President  of  the  Chamber,  Slawata,  and  Baron 
Martinitz,  who  had  been  elected  in  place  of  Count  Thurn, 
Bunn-ave  of  Calstein.  Both  had  long  before  evinced 

o  o 

pretty  openly  their  hostile  feelings  towards  the  Prot- 
estants, by  alone  refusing  to  be  present  at  the  sitting  at 
which  the  Letter  of  Majesty  had  been  inserted  in  the 
Bohemian  constitution.  A  threat  was  made  at  the  time 
to  make  them  responsible  for  every  violation  of  the  Letter 
of  Majesty ;  and  from  this  moment,  whatever  evil  befell 
the  Protestants  was  set  down,  and  not  without  reason,  to 
their  account.  Of  all  the  Roman  Catholic  nobles,  these 
two  had  treated  their  Protestant  vassals  with  the  greatest 
harshness.  They  were  accused  of  hunting  them  with 
dogs  to  the  mass,  and  of  endeavoring  to  drive  them  to 
popery  by  a  denial  of  the  rites  of  baptism,  marriage,  and 
burial.  Against  two  characters  so  unpopular  the  public 
indignation  was  easily  excited,  and  they  were  marked  out 
for  a  sacrifice  to  the  general  indignation. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  1618,  the  deputies  appeared  armed, 
and  in  great  numbers,  at  the  royal  palace,  and  forced 
their  way  into  the  hall  where  the  Commissioners  Stern- 
berg,  Martinitz,  Lobkowitz,  and  Slawata  were  assembled. 
In  a  threatening  tone  they  demanded  to  know  from  each 
of  them,  whether  he  had  taken  any  part,  or  had  consented 
to,  the  imperial  proclamation.  Sternberg  received  them 
with  composure,  Martinitz  and  Slawata  with  defiance. 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  63 

This  decided  their  fate ;  Sternberg  and  Lobkowitz,  less 
hated  and  more  feared,  were  led  by  the  arm  out  of  the 
room ;  Martinitz  and  Slawata  were  seized,  dragged  to  a 
window,  and  precipitated  from  a  height  of  eighty  feet 
into  the  castle  trench.  Their  creature,  the  secretary 
Fabricius,  was  thrown  after  them..  This  singular  mode 
of  execution  naturally  excited  the  surprise  of  civilized 
nations.  The  Bohemians  justified  it  as  a  national  custom, 
and  saw  nothing  remarkable  in  the  whole  affair,  excepting 
that  any  one  should  have  got  up  again  safe  and  sound 
after  such  a  fall.  A  dunghill,  on  which  the  imperial 
commissioners  chanced  to  be  deposited,  had  saved  them 
from  injury. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  this  summary  mode  of 
proceeding  would  much  increase  the  favor  of  the  parties 
with  the  Emperor,  but  this  was  the  very  position  to  which 
Count  Thurn  wished  to  bring  them.  If,  from  the  fear  of 
uncertain  danger,  they  had  permitted  themselves  such  an 
act  of  violence,  the  certain  expectation  of  punishment, 
and  the  now  urgent  necessity  of  making  themselves 
secure,  would  plunge  them  still  deeper  into  guilt.  By 
this  brutal  act  of  self-redress  no  room  was  left  for  irreso- 
lution or  repentance,  and  it  seemed  as  if  a  single  crime 
could  be  absolved  only  by  a  series  of  violences.  As  the 
deed  itself  could  not  be  undone,  nothing  was  left  but  to 
disarm  the  hand  of  punishment.  Thirty  directors  were 
appointed  to  organize  a  regular  insurrection.  They  seized 
upon  all  the  offices  of  state,  and  all  the  imperial  revenues, 
took  into  their  own  service  the  royal  functionaries  and 
the  soldiers,  and  summoned  the  whole  Bohemian  nation 
to  avenge  the  common  cause.  The  Jesuits,  whom  the 
common  hatred  accused  as  the  instigators  of  every 
previous  oppression,  were  banished  the  kingdom,  and  this 
harsh  measure  the  Estates  found  it  necessaiy  to  justify 
in  a  formal  manifesto.  These  various  steps  were  taken 
for  the  preservation  of  the  royal  authority  and  the  laws  — 
the  language  of  all  rebels  till  fortune  has  decided  in  their 
favor. 

The  emotion  which  the  news  of  the  Bohemian  insurrec- 
tion excited  at  the  imperial  court  was  much  less  lively 
than  such  intelligence  deserved.  The  Emperor  Matthias 


64  THE   THIRTY   YEARS*  WAK. 

was  no  longer  the  resolute  spirit  that  formerly  sought  out 
his  king  and  master  in  the  very  bosom  of  his  people,  and 
hurled  him  from  three  thrones.  The  confidence  and 
courage  which  had  animated  him  in  an  usurpation  de- 
serted him  in  a  legitimate  self-defense.  The  Bohemian 
rebels  had  first  taken  up  arms,  and  the  nature  of  circum- 
stances drove  him  to  join  them.  But  he  could  not  hope 
to  confine  such  a  war  to  Bohemia.  In  all  the  territories 
under  his  dominion  the  Protestants  were  united  by  a 
dangerous  sympathy  —  the  common  danger  of  their 
religion  might  suddenly  combine  them  all  into  a  formi- 
dable republic.  What  could  he  oppose  to  such  an  enemy, 
if  the  Protestant  portion  of  his  subjects  deserted  him  ? 
And  would  not  both  parties  exhaust  themselves  in  so 
ruinous  a  civil  war  ?  How  much  was  at  stake  if  he  lost  ; 
and  if  he  won,  whom  else  would  he  destroy  but  his  own 
subjects  ? 

Considerations  such  as  these  inclined  the  Emperor  and 
his  council  to  concessions  and  pacific  measures,  but  it  was 
in  this  very  spirit  of  concession  that,  as  others  would  have 
it,  lay  the  origin  of  the  evil.  The  Archduke  Ferdinand 
of  Gratz  congratulated  the  Emperor  upon  an  event  which 
would  justify  in  the  eyes  of  all  Europe  the  severest 
measures  against  the  Bohemian  Protestants.  "  Disobed- 
ience, lawlessness,  and  insurrection,"  he  said,  "  went 
always  hand-in-hand  with  Protestantism.  Every  privilege 
which  had  been  conceded  to  the  Estates  by  himself  and 
his  predecessor  had  had  no  other  effect  than  to  raise 
their  demands.  All  the  measures  of  the  heretics  were 
aimed  against  the  imperial  authority.  Step  by  step  had 
they  advanced  from  defiance  to  defiance  up  to  this  last 
aggression  ;  in  a  short  time  they  would  assail  all  that  re- 
mained to  be  assailed,  in  the  person  of  the  Emperor.  In 
arms  alone  was  there  any  safety  against  such  an  enemy  — 
peace  and  subordination  could  be  only  established  on 
the  ruins  of  their  dangerous  privileges ;  security  for  the 
Catholic  belief  was  to  be  found  only  in  the  total  destruc- 
tion of  this  sect.  Uncertain,  it  was  true,  might  be  the 
event  of  the  war,  but  inevitable  was  the  ruin  if  it  were 
pretermitted.  The  confiscation  of  the  lands  of  the  rebels 
would  richly  indemnify  them  for  its  expenses,  while  the 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  65 

terror  of  punishment  would  teach  the  other  states  the 
wisdom  of  a  prompt  obedience  in  future."  Were  the 
Bohemian  Protestants  to  blame  if  they  armed  themselves 
in  time  against  the  enforcement  of  such  maxims?  The 
insurrection  in  Bohemia,  besides,  was  directed  only 
against  the  successor  of  the  Emperor,  not  against  him- 
self, who  had  done  nothing  to  justify  the  alarm  of  the 
Protestants.  To  exclude  this  prince  from  the  Bohemian 
throne,  arms  had  before  been  taken  up  under  Matthias, 
though  as  long  as  this  Emperor  lived  his  subjects  had 
kept  within  the  bounds  of  an  apparent  submission. 

But  Bohemia  was  in  arms,  and,  unarmed,  the  Emperor 
dared  riot  even  offer  them  peace.  For  this  purpose  Spain 
supplied  gold,  and  promised  to  send  troops  from  Italy 
and  the  Netherlands.  Count  Bucquoi,  a  native  of  the 
Netherlands,  was  named  generalissimo,  because  no  native 
could  be  trusted,  and  Count  Dampierre,  another  foreigner, 
commanded  under  him.  Before  the  army  took  the  field 
the  Emperor  endeavored  to  bring  about  an  amicable 
arrangement  by  the  publication  of  a  manifesto.  In  this 
he  assured  the  Bohemians,  "that  he  held  sacred  the 
Letter  of  Majesty  —  that  he  had  not  formed  any  resolu- 
tions inimical  to  their  religion  or  their  privileges,  and 
that  his  present  preparations  were  forced  upon  him  by 
their  own.  As  soon  as  the  nation  laid  down  their  arms, 
he  also  would  disband  his  army."  But  this  gracious  letter 
failed  of  its  effect,  because  the  leaders  of  the  insurrection 
contrived  to  hide  from  the  people  the  Emperor's  good 
intentions.  Instead  of  this,  they  circulated  the  most 
alarming  reports  from  the  pulpit,  and  by  pamphlets,  and 
terrified  the  deluded  populace  with  threatened  horrors  of 
another  Saint  Bartholomew's  that  existed  only  in  their 
own  imagination.  All  Bohemia,  with  the  exception  of 
three  towns,  Budweiss,  Krummau,  and  Pilsen,  took  part 
in  this  insurrection.  These  three  towns,  inhabited  princi- 
pally by  Roman  Catholics,  alone  had  the  courage,  in  this 
general  revolt,  to  hold  out  for  the  Emperor,  who  promised 
them  assistance.  But  it  could  not  escape  Count  Thurn 
how  dangerous  it  was  to  leave  in  hostile  hands  three 
places  of  such  importance,  which  would  at  all  times  keep 
open  for  the  imperial  troops  an  entrance  into  the  kingdom. 


66  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

With  prompt  determination  he  appeared  before  Budweiss 
and  Krummau  in  the  hope  of  terrifying  them  into  a  surren- 
der. Krummau  surrendered,  but  all  his  attacks  were 
steadfastly  repulsed  by  Budweiss. 

And  now,  too,  the  Emperor  began  to  show  more 
earnestness  and  energy.  Bucquoi  and  Dampierre,  with 
two  armies,  fell  upon  the  Bohemian  territories,  which 
they  treated  as  a  hostile  country.  But  the  imperial 
generals  found  the  march  to  Prague  more  difficult  than 
they  had  expected.  Every  pass,  every  position  that  was 
the  least  tenable,  must  be  opened  by  the  sword,  and 
resistance  increased  at  each  fresh  step  they  took,  for  the 
outrages  of  their  troops,  chiefly  consisting  of  Hungarians 
and  Walloons,  drove  their  friends  to  revolt  and  their 
enemies  to  despair.  But  even  now  that  his  troops  had 
penetrated  into  Bohemia,  the  Ernperor  continued  to  offer 
the  Estates  peace,  and  to  show  himself  ready  for  an 
amicable  adjustment.  But  the  new  prospects  which 
opened  upon  them  raised  the  courage  of  the  revolters. 
Moravia  espoused  their  party;  and  from  Germany  ap- 
peared to  them  a  defender  equally  intrepid  and  unex- 
pected, in  the  person  of  Count  Mansfeld. 

The  heads  of  the  Evangelic  Union  had  been  silent  but 
not  inactive  spectators  of  the  movements  in  Bohemia. 
Both  were  contending  for  the  same  cause  and  against  the 
same  enemy.  In  the  fate  of  the  Bohemians  their  con- 
federates in  the  faith  might  read  their  own ;  and  the 
cause  of  this  people  was  represented  as  of  solemn  concern 
to  the  whole  German  union.  True  to  these  principles, 
the  Unionists  supported  the  courage  of  the  insurgents  by 
promises  of  assistance ;  and  a  fortunate  accident  now 
enabled  them,  beyond  their  hopes,  to  fulfil  them. 

The  instrument  by  which  the  House  of  Austria  was 
humbled  in  Germany  was  Peter  Ernest,  Count  Mansfeld, 
the  son  of  a  distinguished  Austrian  officer,  Ernest  von 
Mansfeld,  who  for  some  time  had  commanded  with  repute 
the  Spanish  army  in  the  Netherlands.  His  first  campaigns 
in  Juliers  and  Alsace  had  been  made  in  the  service  of 
this  house,  and  under  the  banner  of  the  Archduke  Leo- 
pold, against  the  Protestant  religion  and  the  liberties  of 
Germany.  But  insensibly  won  by  the  principles  of  thia 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  67 

religion,  he  abandoned  a  leader  whose  selfishness  denied 
him  the  reimbursement  of  the  moneys  expended  in  his 
cause,  and  he  transferred  his  zeal  and  a  victorious  sword 
to  the  Evangelic  Union.  It  happened  just  then  that  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  an  ally  of  the  Union,  demanded  assistance 
in  a  war  against  Spain.  They  assigned  to  him  their 
newly-acquired  servant,  and  Mansfeld  received  instruc- 
tions to  raise  an  army  of  four  thousand  men  in  Germany, 
in  the  cause  and  in  the  pay  of  the  duke.  The  army  was 
ready  to  march  at  the  very  moment  when  the  flames  of 
war  burst  out  in  Bohemia,  and  the  duke,  who  at  the  time 
did  not  stand  in  need  of  its  services,  placed  it  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Union.  Nothing  could  be  more  welcome 
to  these  troops  than  the  prospect  of  aiding  their  confed- 
erates in  Bohemia  at  the  cost  of  a  third  party.  Mansfeld 
received  orders  forthwith  to  march  with  these  four  thou- 
sand men  into  that  kingdom  ;  and  a  pretended  Bohemian 
commission  Avas  given  to  blind  the  public  as  to  the  true 
author  of  this  levy. 

This  Mansfeld  now  appeared  in  Bohemia,  and,  by  the 
occupation  of  Pilsen,  strongly  fortified  and  favorable  to 
the  Emperor,  obtained  a  firm  footing  in  the  country. 
The  courage  of  the  rebels  was  farther  increased  by  succors 
which  the  Silesian  States  despatched  to  their  assistance. 
Between  these  and  the  Imperialists  several  battles  were 
fought,  far  indeed  from  decisive,  but  only  on  that  account 
the  more  destructive,  which  served  as  the  prelude  to  a 
more  serious  Avar.  To  check  the  vigor  of  his  military 
operations,  a  negotiation  Avas  entered  into  with  the  Em- 
peror, and  a  disposition  Avas  shown  to  accept  the  proffered 
mediation  of  Saxony.  But  before  the  event  could  prove 
how  little  sincerity  there  Avas  in  these  proposals,  the 
Emperor  Avas  remoA'ed  from  the  scene  by  death. 

What  now  had  Matthias  done  to  justify  the  expecta- 
tions Avhich  lie  had  excited  by  the  overthroAV  of  his  pre- 
decessor? Was  it  worth  Avhile  to  ascend  a  brother's 
throne  through  guilt,  and  then  maintain  it  witli  so  little 
dignity,  and  leave  it  Avith  so  little  renown  ?  As  long  as 
Matthias  sat  on  the  throne  he  had  to  atone  for  the  im- 
prudence by  Avhich  he  had  gained  it.  To  enjoy  the  real 
dignity  a  few  years  sooner  he  had  shackled  the  free 


68  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

exercise  of  its  prerogatives.  The  slender  portion  of  inde- 
pendence left  him  by  the  growing  power  of  the  Estates, 
was  still  farther  lessened  by  the  encroachments  of  his 
relations.  Sickly  and  childless  he  saw  the  attention  of 
the  world  turned  to  an  ambitious  heir  who  was  impa- 
tiently anticipating  his  fate ;  and  who,  by  his  interference 
with  the  closing  administration,  was  already  opening  his 
own. 

With  Matthias  the  reigning  line  of  the  German  House 
of  Austria  was  in  a  manner  extinct ;  for  of  all  the  sons  of 
Maximilian  one  only  was  now  alive,  the  weak  and  child- 
less Archduke  Albert,  in  the  Netherlands,  who  had 
already  renounced  his  claims  to  the  inheritance  in  favor 
of  the  line  of  Gratz.  The  Spanish  House  had  also,  in  a 
secret  bond,  resigned  its  pretensions  to  the  Austrian 
possessions  in  behalf  of  the  Archduke  Ferdinand  of  Styria, 
in  whom  the  branch  of  Hapsburg  was  about  to  put  forth 
new  shoots,  and  the  former  greatness  of  Austria  to 
experience  a  revival. 

The  father  of  Ferdinand  was  the  Archduke  Charles  of 
Carniola,  Carinthia,  and  Styria,  the  youngest  brother  of 
Emperor  Maximilian  II. ;  his  mother  a  princess  of  Bavaria. 
Having  lost  his  father  at  twelve  years  of  age,  he  was 
entrusted  by  the  archduchess  to  the  guardianship  of  her 
brother  William,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  under  whose  eyes  he 
was  instructed  and  educated  by  Jesuits  at  the  Academy 
of  Ingolstadt.  What  principles  he  was  likely  to  imbibe 
by  his  intercourse  with  a  prince,  who  from  motives  of 
devotion  had  abdicated  his  government,  may  be  easily 
conceived.  Care  was  taken  to  point  out  to  him,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  weak  indulgence  of  Maximilian's  house  towards 
the  adherents  of  the  new  doctrines,  and  the  consequent 
troubles  of  their  dominions ;  on  the  other,  the  blessings 
of  Bavaria,  and  the  inflexible  religious  zeal  of  its  rulers  ; 
between  these  two  examples  he  was  left  to  choose  for 
himself. 

Formed  in  this  school  to  be  a  stout  champion  of  the 
faith,  and  a  prompt  instrument  of  the  church,  he  left 
Bavaria,  after  a  residence  of  five  years,  to  assume  the  gov- 
ernment of  his  hereditary  dominions.  The  Estates  of 
Carniola,  Carinthia,  and  Styria,  who,  before  doing  homage, 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAK.  69 

demanded  a  guarantee  for  freedom  of  religion,  were  told 
that  religious  liberty  has  nothing  to  do  with  their  allegi- 
ance. The  oath  was  put  to  them  without  conditions,  and 
unconditionally  taken.  Many  years,  however,  elapsed, 
ere  the  designs  which  had  been  planned  at  Ingolstadt 
were  ripe  for  execution.  Before  attempting  to  carry 
them  into  effect,  he  sought  in  person  at  Loretto  the  favor 
of  the  Virgin,  and  received  the  apostolic  benediction  in 
Rome  at  the  feet  of  Clement  VIII. 

These  designs  were  nothing  less  than  the  expulsion  of 
Protestantism  from  a  country  where  it  had  the  advantage 
of  numbers,  and  had  been  legally  recognized  by  a  formal 
act  of  toleration,  granted  by  his  father  to  the  noble  and 
knightly  estates  of  the  land.  A  grant  so  formally  ratified 
could  not  be  revoked  without  danger ;  but  no  difficulties 
could  deter  the  pious  pupil  of  the  Jesuits.  The  example 
of  other  states,  both  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant, 
which  within  their  own  territories  had  exercised  un- 
questioned a  right  of  reformation,  and  the  abuse  which  the 
Estates  of  Styria  made  of  their  religious  liberties,  would 
serve  as  a  justification  of  this  violent  procedure.  Under 
the  shelter  of  an  absurd  positive  law  those  of  equity  and 
prudence  might,  it  is  thought,  be  safely  despised.  In 
the  execution  of  these  unrighteous  designs  Ferdinand 
did,  it  must  be  owned,  display  no  common  courage  and 
perseverance.  Without  tumult,  and  we  may  add,  with- 
out cruelty,  he  suppressed  the  Protestant  service  in  one 
town  after  another,  and  in  a  few  years,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  Germany,  this  dangerous  work  was  brought  to  a 
successful  end. 

But,  while  the  Roman  Catholics  admired  him  as  a  hero, 
and  the  champion  of  the  church,  the  Protestants  began 
to  combine  against  him  as  their  most  dangerous  enemy. 
And  yet  Matthias'  intention  to  bequeath  to  him  the  suc- 
cession met  with  little  or  no  opposition  in  the  elective 
states  of  Austria.  Even  the  Bohemians  agreed  to  receive 
him  as  their  future  king  on  very  favorable  conditions. 
It  was  not  until  afterwards,  when  they  had  experienced 
the  pernicious  influence  of  his  councils  on  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Emperor,  that  their  anxiety  was  first  excited  ; 
and  then  several  projects,  in  his  handwriting,  which  an 


70  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

unlucky  chance  threw  into  their  hands,  as  they  plainly 
evinced  his  disposition  towards  them,  carried  their 
apprehension  to  the  utmost  pitch.  In  particular,  they 
were  alarmed  by  a  secret  family  compact  with  Spain,  by 
which,  in  default  of  heirs-male  of  his  own  body,  Fer- 
dinand bequeathed  to  that  crown  the  kingdom  of  Bo- 
hemia, without  first  consulting  the  wishes  of  that  nation, 
and  without  regard  to  its  rights  of  free  election.  The 
many  enemies,  too,  which  by  his  reforms  in  Styria  that 
prince  had  provoked  among  the  Protestants,  were  very 
prejudicial  to  his  interests  in  Bohemia;  and  some  Styrian 
emigrants,  who  had  taken  refuge  there,  bringing  with 
them  into  their  adopted  country  hearts  overflowing  with 
a  desire  of  revenge,  were  particularly  active  in  exciting 
the  flame  of  revolt.  Thus  ill-affected  did  Ferdinand  find 
the  Bohemians  when  he  succeeded  Matthias. 

So  bad  an  understanding  between  the  nation  and  the 
candidate  for  the  throne  would  have  raised  a  storm  even 
in  the  most  peaceable  succession ;  how  much  more  so  at 
the  present  moment,  before  the  ardor  of  insurrection  had 
cooled  ;  when  the  nation  had  just  recovered  its  dignity, 
and  reasserted  its  rights ;  when  they  still  held  arms  in 
their  handsj  and  the  consciousness  of  unity  had  awakened 
an  enthusiastic  reliance  on  their  own  strength ;  when  by 
past  success,  by  the  promises  of  foreign  assistance,  and 
by  visionary  expectations  of  the  future,  their  courage  had 
been  raised  to  an  undoubting  confidence.  Disregarding 
the  rights  already  conferred  on  Ferdinand,  the  Estates 
declared  the  throne  vacant,  and  their  right  of  election 
entirely  unfettered.  All  hopes  of  their  peaceful  submis- 
sion were  at  an  end,  and  if  Ferdinand  wished  still  to  wear 
the  crown  of  Bohemia  he  must  choose  between  pur- 
chasing it  at  the  sacrifice  of  all  that  would  make  a  crown 
desirable,  or  winning  it  sword  in  hand. 

But  with  what  means  was  it  to  be  won?  -  Turn  his  eyes 
where  he  would  the  fire  of  revolt  was  burning.  Silesia 
had  already  joined  the  insurgents  in  Bohemia ;  Moravia 
was  on  the  point  of  following  its  example.  In  Upper 
and  Lower  Austria  the  spirit  of  liberty  was  awake,  as  it 
had  been  under  Rodolph,  and  the  Estates  refused  to  do 
homage.  Hungary  was  menaced  with  an  inroad  by 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  71 

Prince  Bethlen  Gabor,  on  the  side  of  Transylvania;  a 
secret  arming  among  the  Turks  spread  consternation 
among  the  provinces  to  the  eastward  ;  and,  to  complete 
his  perplexities,  the  Protestants  also  in  his  hereditary 
dominions,  stimulated  by  the  general  example,  were 
again  raising  their  heads.  In  that  quarter  their  numbers 
were  overwhelming ;  in  most  places  they  had  possession 
of  the  revenues  which  Ferdinand  would  need  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  war.  The  neutral  began  to  waver, 
the  faithful  to  be  discouraged,  the  turbulent  alone  to  be 
animated  and  confident.  One  half  of  Germany  encouraged 
the  rebels,  the  other  inactively  awaited  the  issue  ;  Spanish 
assistance  was  still  very  remote.  The  moment  which 
had  brought  him  everything  threatened  also  to  deprive 
him  of  all. 

And  when  he  now,  yielding  to  the  stern  law  of  necessity, 
made  overtures  to  the  Bohemian  rebels,  all  his  proposals 
for  peace  were  insolently  rejected.  Count  Thurn,  at  the 
head  of  an  army,  entered  Moravia  to  bring  this  province, 
which  alone  continued  to  waver,  to  a  decision.  The  ap- 
pearance of  their  friends  is  the  signal  of  revolt  for  the 
Moravian  Protestants.  Brunn  is  taken,  the  remainder  of 
the  country  yields  with  free  will ;  throughout  the  province 
government  and  religion  are  changed.  Swelling  as  it 
flows,  the  torrent  of  rebellion  pours  down  upon  Austria, 
where  a  party,  holding  similar  sentiments,  receives  it  with 
a  joyful  concurrence.  Henceforth  there  should  be  no 
more  distinctions  of  religion ;  equality  of  rights  should 
be  guaranteed  to  all  Christian  churches.  They  hear  that 
a  foreign  force  has  been  invited  into  the  country  to 
oppress  the  Bohemians.  Let  them  be  sought  out,  and 
the  enemies  of  liberty  pursued  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
Not  an  arm  is  raised  in  defence  of  the  Archduke,  and  the 
rebels,  at  length,  encamp  before  Vienna  to  besiege  their 
sovereign. 

Ferdinand  had  sent  his  children  from  Gratz,  where 
they  were  no  longer  safe,  to  the  Tyrol ;  he  himself  awaited 
the  insurgents  in  his  capital.  A  handful  of  soldiers  was 
all  he  could  oppose  to  the  enraged  multitude ;  these  few 
were  without  pay  or  provisions,  and  therefore  little  to  be 
depended  on.  Vienna  was  unprepared  for  a  long  siege. 


72  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

The  party  of  the  Protestants,  ready  at  any  moment  to 
join  the  Bohemians,  had  the  preponderance  in  the  city ; 
those  in  the  country  had  already  begun  to  levy  troops 
against  him.  Already,  in  imagination,  the  Protestant 
populace  -saw  the  Emperor  shut  up  in  a  monastery,  his 
territories  divided,  and  his  children  educated  as  Prot- 
estants. Confiding  in  secret,  and  surrounded  by  public 
enemies,  he  saw  the  chasm  every  moment  widening  to 
engulf  his  hopes  and  even  himself.  The  Bohemian  bullets 
were  already  falling  upon  the  imperial  palace,  when 
sixteen  Austrian  barons  forcibly  entered  his  chamber, 
and  inveighing  against  him  with  loud  and  bitter  re- 
proaches, endeavored  to  force  him  into  a  confederation 
with  the  Bohemians.  One  of  them  seizing  him  by  the 
button  of  his  doublet,  demanded,  in  a  tone  of  menace, 
"  Ferdinand,  wilt  thou  sign  it  ?  " 

Who  would  not  be  pardoned  had  he  wavered  in  this 
frightful  situation  ?  Yet  Ferdinand  still  remembered  the 
dignity  of  a  Roman  emperor.  No  alternative  seemed 
left  to  him  but  an  immediate  flight  or  submission  ;  laymen 
urged  him  to  the  one,  priests  to  the  other.  If  he  aban- 
doned the  city  it  would  fall  into  the  enemy's  hands ; 
with  Vienna,  Austria  was  lost ;  with  Austria,  the  imperial 
throne.  Ferdinand  abandoned  not  his  capital,  and  as 
little  would  he  hear  of  conditions. 

The  Archduke  is  still  engaged  in  altercation  with  the 
deputed  barons,  when  all  at  once  a  sound  of  trumpets  is 
heard  in  the  palace  square.  Terror  and  astonishment  take 
possession  of  all  present;  a  fearful  report  pervades  the 
palace;  one  deputy  after  another  disappears.  Many  of 
the  nobility  and  the  citzens  hastily  take  refuge  in  the 
camp  of  Thurn.  This  sudden  change  is  effected  by  a 
regiment  of  Dampierre's  cuirassiers,  who  at  that  moment 
marched  into  the  city  to  defend  the  Archduke.  A  body 
of  infantry  soon  followed  ;  reassured  by  their  appearance, 
several  of  the  Roman  Catholic  citizens,  and  even  the 
students  themselves,  take  up  arms.  A  report  which 
arrived  just  at  the  same  time  from  Bohemia  made  his 
deliverance  complete.  The  Flemish  general,  Bucquoi, 
had  totally  defeated  Count  Mansfeld  at  Budweiss,  and 
was  marching  upon  Prague.  The  Bohemians  hastily 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*    WAE.  73 

broke  up  their  camp  before  Vienna  to  protect  their  own 
capital. 

And  now  also  the  passes  were  free  which  the  enemy 
had  taken  possession  of  in  order  to  obstruct  Ferdinand's 
progress  to  his  coronation  at  Frankfort.  If  the  accession 
to  the  imperial  throne  was  important  for  the  plans  of  the 
King  of  Hungary,  it  was  of  still  greater  consequence  at  the 
present  moment,  when  his  nomination  as  Emperor  would 
afford  the  most  unsuspicious  and  decisive  proof  of  the 
dignity  of  his  person,  and  of  the  justice  of  his  cause, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  it  would  give  him  a  hope  of 
support  from  the  Empire.  But  the  same  cabal  which 
opposed  him  in  his  hereditary  dominions  labored  also  to 
counteract  him  in  his  canvass  for  the  imperial  dignity. 
No  Austrian  prince,  they  maintained,  ought  to  ascend 
the  throne ;  least  of  all  Ferdinand,  the  bigoted  persecutor 
of  their  religion,  the  slave  of  Spain  and  of  the  Jesuits. 
To  prevent  this  the  crown  had  been  offered,  even  during 
the  lifetime  of  Matthias,  to  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and,  on 
his  refusal,  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy.  As  some  difficulty 
was  experienced  in  settling  with  the  latter  the  conditions 
of  acceptance,  it  was  sought,  at  all  events,  to  delay  the 
election  till  some  decisive  blow  in  Austria  or  Bohemia 
should  annihilate  all  the  hopes  of  Ferdinand,  and  incapa- 
citate him  from  any  competition  for  this  dignity.  The 
members  of  the  Union  left  no  stone  unturned  to  gain  over 
from  Ferdinand  the  Electorate  of  Saxony,  which  was 
bound  to  Austrian  interests;  they  represented  to  this 
court  the  dangers  with  which  the  Protestant  religion,  and 
even  the  constitution  of  the  empire,  were  threatened  by  the 
principles  of  this  prince  and  his  Spanish  alliance.  By 
the  elevation  of  Ferdinand  to  the  imperial  throne, 
Germany,  they  further  asserted,  would  be  involved  in 
the  private  quarrels  of  this  prince,  and  bring  upon  itself 
the  arms  of  Bohemia.  But  in  spite  of  all  opposing 
influences  the  day  of  election  was  fixed,  Ferdinand 
summoned  to  it  'as  lawful  King  of  Bohemia,  and  his 
electoral  vote,  after  a  fruitless  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  Bohemian  Estates,  acknowledged  to  be  good.  The 
votes  of  the  three  ecclesiastical  electorates  were  for  him, 
Saxony  was  favorable  to  him,  Brandenburg  made  no 


74  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

opposition,  and  a  decided  majority  declared  him  Emperor 
in  1619.  Thus  he  saw  the  most  doubtful  of  his  crowns 
placed  first  of  all  on  his  head;  but  a  few  days  after  he 
lost  that  which  he  had  reckoned  among  the  most  certain 
of  his  possessions.  While  he  was  thus  elected  Emperor 
in  Frankfort,  he  was  in  Prague  deprived  of  the  Bohemian 
throne. 

Almost  all  of  his  German  hereditary  dominions  had  in 
the  meantime  entered  into  a  formidable  league  with  the 
Bohemians,  whose  insolence  now  exceeded  all  bounds. 
In  a  general  Diet,  the  latter,  on  the  17th  of  August,  1619, 
proclaimed  the  Emperor  an  enemy  to  the  Bohemian 
religion  and  liberties,  who  by  his  pernicious  counsels  had 
alienated  from  them  the  affections  of  the  late  Emperor, 
had  furnished  troops  to  oppress  them,  had  given  their 
country  as  a  prey  to  foreigners,  and  finally,  in  contraven- 
tion of  the  national  rights,  had  bequeathed  the  crown,  by 
a  secret  compact,  to  Spain ;  they  therefore  declared  that 
he  had  forfeited  whatever  title  he  might  otherwise  have 
had  to  the  crown,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  a  new 
election.  As  this  sentence  was  pronounced  by  Protest- 
ants, their  choice  could  not  well  fall  upon  a  Roman 
Catholic  prince,  though,  to  save  appearances,  some  voices 
were  raised  for  Bavaria  and  Savoy.  But  the  violent 
religious  animosities  which  divided  the  evangelical  and 
the  reformed  parties  among  the  Protestants  impeded 
for  some  time  the  election  even  of  a  Protestant  king; 
till  at  last  the  address  and  activity  of  the  Calvinists 
carried  the  day  from  the  numerical  superiority  of  the 
Lutherans. 

Among  all  the  princes  who  were  competitors  for  this 
dignity,  the  Elector  Palatine  Frederick  V.  had  the  best 
grounded  claims  on  the  confidence  and  gratitude  of  the 
Bohemians;  and,  among  them  all,  there  was  no  one  in 
whose  case  the  private  interests  of  particular  Estates,  and 
the  attachment  of  the  people,  seemed  to  be  justified  by 
so  many  considerations  of  state.  Frederick  V.  was  a  free 
and  lively  spirit,  of  great  goodness  of  heart  and  regal 
liberality.  He  was  the  head  of  the  Calvinistic  party  in 
Germany,  the  leader  of  the  Union,  whose  resources  were 
at  his  disposal,  a  near  relation  of  the  Duke  of  Bavaria, 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  75 

and  a  son-in-law  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  who  might 
lend  him  his  powerful  support.  All  these  considerations 
were  prominently  and  successfully  brought  forward  by 
the  Calviuists,  and  Frederick  V.  was  chosen  king  by  the 
Assembly  at  Prague  amidst  prayers  and  tears  of  joy. 

The  whole  proceedings  of  the  Diet  at  Prague  had  been 
premeditated,  and  Frederick  himself  had  taken  too  active 
a  share  in  the  matter  to  feel  at  all  surprised  at  the  offer 
made  to  him  by  the  Bohemians.  But  now  the  immediate 
glitter  of  this  throne  dazzled  him,  and  the  magnitude  both 
of  his  elevation  and  his  delinquency  made  his  weak  mind 
to  tremble.  After  the  usual  manner  of  pusillanimous 
spirits,  he  sought  to  confirm  himself  in  his  purpose  by  the 
opinions  of  others ;  but  these  opinions  had  no  weight 
with  him  when  they  ran  counter  to  his  own  cherished 
wishes.  Saxony  and  Bavaria,  of  whom  he  sought  advice, 
all  his  brother  electors,  all  who  compared  the  magnitude 
of  the  design  with  his  capacities  and  resources,  warned 
him  of  the  danger  into  which  he  was  about  to  rush.  Even 
King  James  of  England  preferred  to  see  his  son-in-law 
deprived  of  this  crown  than  that  the  sacred  majesty  of 
kings  should  be  outraged  by  so  dangerous  a  precedent. 
But  of  what  avail  was  the  voice  of  prudence  against  the 
seductive  glitter  of  a  crown?  In  the  moment  of  boldest 
determination,  when  they  are  indignantly  rejecting  the 
consecrated  branch  of  a  race  which  had  governed  them 
for  two  centuries,  a  free  people  throws  itself  into  his  arms. 
Confiding  in  his  courage,  they  choose  him  as  their  leader 
in  the  dangerous  career  of  glory  and  liberty.  To  him,  as 
to  its  born  champion,  an  oppressed  religion  looks  for 
shelter  and  support  against  its  persecutors.  Could  he 
have  the  weakness  to  listen  to  his  fears,  and  to  betray  the 
cause  of  religion  and  liberty?  This  religion  proclaims  to 
him  its  own  preponderance  and  the  weakness  of  its 
rival,  —  two-thirds  of  the  power  of  Austria  are  now  in 
arms  against  Austria  itself,  while  a  formidable  confed- 
eracy, already  formed  in  Transylvania,  would,  by  a  hostile 
attack,  further  distract  even  the  weak  remnant  of  its 
power.  Could  inducements  such  as  these  fail  to  awaken 
his  ambition,  or  such  hopes  to  animate  and  inflame  his 
resolution  ? 


76  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

A  few  moments  of  calm  consideration  would  have 
sufficed  to  show  the  danger  of  the  undertaking  and  the 
comparative  worthlessness  of  the  prize.  But  the  tempta- 
tion spoke  to  his  feelings ;  the  warning  only  to  his 
reason.  It  was  his  misfortune  that  his  nearest  and  most 
influential  counsellors  espoused  the  side  of  his  passions. 
The  aggrandizement  of  their  master's  power  opened  to 
the  ambition  and  avarice  of  his  Palatine  servants  an 
unlimited  field  for  their  gratification  ;  this  anticipated 
triumph  of  their  church  kindled  the  ardor  of  the  Calvin- 
istic  fanatic.  Could  a  mind  so  weak  as  that  of  Ferdinand 
resist  the  delusions  of  his  counsellors,  who  exaggerated 
his  resources  and  his  strength  as  much  as  they  under- 
rated those  of  his  enemies ;  or  the  exhortations  of  his 
preachers,  who  announced  the  effusions  of  their  fanatical 
zeal  as  the  immediate  inspiration  of  heaven  ?  The  dreams 
of  astrology  filled  his  mind  with  visionary  hopes ;  even 
love  conspired,  with  its  irresistible  fascination,  to  complete 
the  seduction.  "Had  you,"  demanded  the  Electress, 
"  confidence  enough  in  yourself  to  accept  the  hand  of  a 
king's  daughter,  and  have  you  misgivings  about  taking 
a  crown  which  is  voluntarily  offered  you  ?  I  would 
rather  eat  bread  at  thy  kingly  table  than  feast  at  thy 
electoral  board." 

Frederick  accepted  the  Bohemian  crown.  The  corona- 
tion was  celebrated  with  unexampled  pomp  at  Prague, 
for  the  nation  displayed  all  its  riches  in  honor  of  its  own 
work.  Silesia  and  Moravia,  the  adjoining  provinces  to 
Bohemia,  followed  their  example,  and  did  homage  to 
Frederick.  The  reformed  faith  was  enthroned  in  all  the 
churches  of  the  kingdom  ;  the  rejoicings  were  unbounded, 
their  attachment  to  their  new  king  bordered  on  adoration. 
Denmark  and  Sweden,  Holland  and  Venice,  and  several 
of  the  Dutch  states,  acknowledged  him  as  lawful  sover- 
ereign,  and  Frederick  now  prepared  to  maintain  his  new 
acquisition. 

His  principal  hopes  rested  on  Prince  Bethlen  Gabor  of 
Transylvania.  This  formidable  enemy  of  Austria,  and 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  not  content  with  the 
principality  which,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Turks,  he  had 
wrested  from  his  legitimate  prince,  Gabriel  Bathori,  gladly 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  77 

seized  this  opportunity  of  aggrandizing  himself  at  the 
expense  of  Austria,  which  had  hesitated  to  acknowledge 
him  as  sovereign  of  Transylvania.  An  attack  upon  Hun- 
gary and  Austria  was  concerted  with  the  Bohemian  rebels, 
and  both  armies  were  to  unite  before  the  capital.  Mean- 
time, Bethlen  Gabor,  under  the  mask  of  friendship,  dis- 
guised the  true  object  of  his  warlike  preparations,  artfully 
promising  the  Emperor  to  lure  the  Bohemians  into  the 
toils  by  a  pretended  offer  of  assistance,  and  to  deliver 
up  to  him  alive  the  leaders  of  the  insurrection.  All  at 
once,  however,  he  appeared  in  a  hostile  attitude  in  Upper 
Hungary.  Before  him  went  terror,  and  devastation 
behind ;  all  opposition  yielded,  and  at  Presburg  he 
received  the  Hungarian  crown.  The  Emperor's  brother, 
who  governed  in  Vienna,  trembled  for  the  capital.  He 
hastily  summoned  General  Bucquoi  to  his  assistance,  and 
the  retreat  of  the  Imperialists  drew  the  Bohemians,  a 
second  time,  before  the  walls  of  Vienna.  Reinforced  by 
twelve  thousand  Transylvanians,  and  soon  after  joined  by 
the  victorious  army  of  Bethlen  Gabor,  they  again  menaced 
the  capital  with  assault ;  all  the  country  round  Vienna 
was  laid  waste,  the  navigation  of  the  Danube  closed,  all 
supplies  cut  off,  and  the  horrors  of  famine  were  threatened. 
Ferdinand,  hastily  recalled  to  his  capital  by  this  urgent 
danger,  saw  himself  a  second  time  on  the  brink  of  ruin. 
But  want  of  provisions,  and  the  inclement  weather,  finally 
compelled  the  Bohemians  to  go  into  quarters,  a  defeat  in 
Hungary  recalled  Bethlen  Gabor,  and  thus  once  more  had 
fortune  rescued  the  Emperor. 

In  a  few  weeks  the  scene  was  changed,  and  by  his  pru- 
dence and  activity  Ferdinand  improved  his  position  as 
rapidly  as  Frederick,  by  indolence  and  impolicy,  ruined 
his.  The  Estates  of  Lower  Austria  were  regained  to 
their  allegiance  by  a  confirmation  of  their  privileges ;  and 
the  few  who  still  held  out  were  declared  guilty  of  lese- 
majeste  and  high  treason.  During  the  election  of  Frank- 
fort he  had  contrived,  by  personal  representations,  to 
win  over  to  his  cause  the  ecclesiastical  electors,  and  also 
Maximilian,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  at  Munich.  The  whole 
issue  of  the  war,  the  fate  of  Frederick  and  the  Emperor, 
were  now  dependent  on  the  part  which  the  Union  and  the 


78  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

League  should  take  in  the  troubles  of  Bohemia.  It  was 
evidently  of  importance  to  all  the  Protestants  of  Germany 
that  the  King  of  Bohemia  should  be  supported,  while  it 
was  equally  the  interests  of  the  Roman  Catholics  to 
prevent  the  ruin  of  the  Emperor.  If  the  Protestants 
succeeded  in  Bohemia,  all  the  Roman  Catholic  princes  in 
Germany  might  ti-emble  for  their  possessions ;  if  they 
failed,  the  Emperor  would  give  laws  to  Protestant  Ger- 
many. Thus  Ferdinand  put  the  League,  Frederick  the 
Union,  in  motion.  The  ties  of  relationship  and  a  personal 
attachment  to  the  Emperor,  his  brother-in-law,  with 
whom  he  had  been  educated  at  Ingolstadt,  zeal  for  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion,  which  seemed  to  be  in  the  most 
imminent  peril,  and  the  suggestions  of  the  Jesuits,  com- 
bined with  the  suspicious  movements  of  the  Union,  moved 
the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  all  the  princes  of  the  League, 
to  make  the  cause  of  Ferdinand  their  own. 

According  to  the  terms  of  a  treaty  with  the  Emperor, 
which  assured  to  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  compensation  for 
all  the  expenses  of  the  war,  or  the  losses  he  might  sustain, 
Maximilian  took,  with  full  powers,  the  command  of  the 
troops  of  the  League,  which  were  ordered  to  march  to  the 
assistance  of  the  Emperor  against  the  Bohemian  rebels. 
The  leaders  of  the  Union,  instead  of  delaying  by  every 
means  this  dangerous  coalition  of  the  League  with  the 
Emperor,  did  everything  in  their  power  to  accelerate  it. 
Could  they,  they  thought,  but  once  drive  the  Roman 
Catholic  League  to  take  an  open  part  in  the  Bohemian 
war  they  might  reckon  on  similar  measures  from  all  the 
members  and  allies  of  the  Union.  Without  some  open 
step  taken  by  the  Roman  Catholics  against  the  Union  no 
effectual  confederacy  of  the  Protestant  powers  was  to  be 
looked  for.  They  seized,  therefore,  the  present  emer- 
gency of  the  troubles  in  Bohemia  to  demand  from  the 
Roman  Catholics  the  abolition  of  their  past  grievances, 
and  full  security  for  the  future  exercise  of  their  religion. 
They  addressed  this  demand,  which  was  moreover 
couched  in  threatening  language,  to  the  Duke  of  Bavaria, 
as  the  head  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  they  insisted  on 
an  immediate  and  categorical  answer.  Maximilian  might 
decide  for  or  against  them,  still  their  point  was  gained ; 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  79 

his  concession,  if  lie  yielded,  would  deprive  the  Roman 
Catholic  party  of  its  most  powerful  protector ;  his  refusal 
would  arm  the  whole  Protestant  party,  and  render 
inevitable  a  war  in  which  they  hoped  to  be  the  conquerors. 
Maximilian,  firmly  attached  to  the  opposite  party  from 
so  many  other  considerations,  took  the  demands  of  the 
Union  as  a  formal  declaration  of  hostilities,  and  quickened 
his  preparations.  While  Bavaria  and  the  League  were 
thus  arming  in  the  Emperor's  cause  negotiations  for  a 
subsidy  were  opened  with  the  Spanish  court.  All  the 
difficulties  with  which  the  indolent  policy  of  that  ministry 
met  this  demand  were  happily  surmounted  by  the  imperial 
ambassador  at  Madrid,  Count  Khevenhuller.  In  addition 
to  a  subsidy  of  a  million  of  florins,  which  from  time  to 
time  were  doled  out  by  this  court  an  attack  upon  the 
Lower  Palatinate,  from  the  side  of  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands, was  at  the  same  time  agreed  upon. 

During  these  attempts  to  draw  all  the  Roman  Catholic 
powers  into  the  League,  every  exertion  was  made  against 
the  counter-league  of  the  Protestants.  To  this  end  it 
was  important  to  alarm  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the 
other  Evangelical  powers,  and  accordingly  the  L^nion 
were  diligent  in  propagating  a  rumor  that  the  preparations 
of  the  League  had  for  their  object  to  deprive  them  of  the 
ecclesiastical  foundations  they  had  secularized.  A  writ- 
ten assurance  to  the  contrary  calmed 'the  fears  of  the 
Duke  of  Saxony,  whom  moreover  private  jealousy  of  the 
Palatine,  and  the  insinuations  of  his  chaplain,  who  was  in 
the  pay  of  Austria,  and  mortification  at  having  been 
passed  over  by  the  Bohemians  in  the  election  to  the 
throne,  strongly  inclined  to  the  side  of  Austria.  The 
fanaticism  of  the  Lutherans  could  neveV  forgive  the 
reformed  party  for  having  drawn,  as  they  expressed  it,  so 
many  fair  provinces  into  the  gulf  of  Calvinism,  and 
rejecting  the  Roman  Antichrist  only  to  make  way  for  an 
Helvetian  one. 

While  Ferdinand  used  every  effort  to  improve  the 
unfavorable  situation  of  his  affairs,  Frederick  was  daily 
injuring  his  good  cause.  By  his  close  and  questionable 
connection  with  the  Prince  of  Transylvania,  the  open  ally 
of  the  Porte,  he  gave  offence  to  weak  minds ;  and  a 


80  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

general  rumor  accused  him  of  furthering  his  own  ambition 
at  the  expense  of  Christendom,  and  arming  the  Turks 
against  Germany.  His  inconsiderate  zeal  for  the  Cal- 
vinistic  scheme  irritated  the  Lutherans  of  Bohemia,  his 
attacks  on  image-worship  incensed  the  Papists  of  this 
kingdom  against  him.  New  and  oppressive  imposts 
alienated  the  affections  of  all  his  subjects.  The  disap- 
pointed hopes  of  the  Bohemian  nobles  cooled  their  zeal ; 
the  absence  of  foreign  succors  abated  their  confidence. 
Instead  of  devoting  himself  with  untiring  energies  to  the 
affairs  of  his  kingdom,  Frederick  wasted  his  time  in 
amusements ;  instead  of  filling  his  treasury  by  a  wise 
economy,  he  squandered  his  revenues  by  a  needless 
theatrical  pomp  and  a  misplaced  munificence.  With  a 
light-minded  carelessness,  he  did  but  gaze  at  himself  in 
his  new  dignity,  and  in  the  ill-timed  desire  to  enjoy  his 
crown,  he  forgot  the  more  pressing  duty  of  securing  it  on 
his  head. 

But  greatly  as  men  erred  in  their  opinion  of  him,  Fre- 
derick himself  had  not  less  miscalculated  his  foreign 
resources.  Most  of  the  members  of  the  Union  considered 
the  affairs  of  Bohemia  as  foreign  to  the  real  object  of 
their  confederacy;  others,  who  were  devoted  to  him, 
were  overawed  by  fear  of  the  Emperor.  Saxony  and 
Hesse  Darmstadt  had  already  been  gained  over  by  Fer- 
dinand ;  Lower  Austria,  on  which  side  a  powerful  diver- 
sion had  been  looked  for,  had  made  its  submission  to  the 
Emperor;  and  Bethlen  Gabor  had  concluded  a  truce  with 
him.  By  its  embassies  the  court  of  Vienna  had  induced 
Denmark  to  remain  inactive,  and  to  occupy  Sweden  in  a 
war  with  the  Poles.  The  republic  of  Holland  had  enough 
to  do  to  defend  itself  against  the  arms  of  the  Spaniards; 
Venice  and  Saxony  remained  inactive ;  King  James  of 
England  was  overreached  by  the  artifice  of  Spain.  One 
friend  after  another  withdrew;  one  hope  vanished  after 
another  —  so  rapidly  in  a  few  months  was  everything 
changed. 

In  the  meantime  the  leaders  of  the  Union  assembled 
an  army;  the  Emperor  and  the  League  did  the  same. 
The  troops  of  the  latter  were  assembled  under  the  banners 
of  Maximilian  at  Donauwerth,  those  of  the  Union  at  Ulna, 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  81 

under  the  Margrave  of  Anspach.  The  decisive  moment 
seemed  at  length  to  have  arrived  which  was  to  end  these 
long  dissensions  by  a  vigorous  blow,  and  irrevocably  to  set- 
tle the  relation  of  the  two  churches  in  Germany.  Anxiously 
on  the  stretch  was  the  expectation  of  both  parties.  How 
great  then  was  their  astonishment  when  suddenly  the 
intelligence  of  peace  arrived,  and  both  armies  separated 
without  striking  a  blow  ! 

The  intervention  of  France  effected  this  peace,  which 
was  equally  acceptable  to  both  parties.  The  French 
cabinet,  no  longer  swayed  by  the  counsels  of  Henry  the 
Great,  and  whose  maxims  of  state  were  perhaps  not 
applicable  to  the  present  condition  of  that  kingdom,  was 
now  far  less  alarmed  at  the  preponderance  of  Austria 
than  of  the  increase  which  would  accrue  to  the  strength 
of  the  Calvinists  if  the  Palatine  house  should  be  able 
to  retain  the  throne  of  Bohemia.  Involved  at  the  time 
in*  a  dangerous  conflict  with  its  own  Calvinistic  subjects, 
it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  France  that  the  Prot- 
estant faction  in  Bohemia  should  be  suppressed  before 
the  Huguenots  could  copy  their  dangerous  example.  In 
order  therefore  to  facilitate  the  Emperor's  operations 
against  the  Bohemians,  she  offered  her  mediation  to  the 
Union  and  the  League,  and  effected  this  unexpected 
treaty  of  which  the  main  article  was,  "  That  the  Union 
should  abandon  all  interference  in  the  affairs  of  Bohemia, 
and  confine  the  aid  which  they  might  afford  to  Frederick 
V.,  to  his  Palatine  territories."  To  this  disgraceful 
treaty,  the  Union  were  moved  by  the  firmness  of  Maxi- 
milian and  the  fear  of  being  pressed  at  once  by  the 
troops  of  the  League,  and  a  new  Imperial  army  which 
was  on  its  march  from  the  Netherlands. 

The  whole  force  of  Bavaria  and  the  League  was  now 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Emperor  to  be  employed  against 
the  Bohemians,  who  by  the  pacification  of  Ulm  were 
abandoned  to  their  fate.  With  a  rapid  movement,  and 
before  a  rumor  of  the  proceedings  at  Ulm  could  reach 
there,  Maximilian  appeared  in  Upper  Austria,  when  the 
Estates,  surprised  and  unprepared  for  an  enemy,  purchased 
the  Emperor's  pardon  by  an  immediate  and  uncondi- 
tional submission.  In  Lower  Austria  the  duke  formed  a 


82  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

junction  with  the  troops  from  the  Low  Countries,  under 
Bucquoi,  and  without  loss  of  time  the  united  Imperial 
and  Bavarian  forces,  amounting  to  fifty  thousand  men, 
entered  Bohemia.  All  the  Bohemian  troops,  which  were 
dispersed  over  Lower  Austria  and  Moravia,  were  driven 
before  them ;  every  town  which  attempted  resistance  was 
quickly  taken  by  storm  ;  others,  terrified  by  the  report  of 
the  punishment  inflicted  on  these,  voluntarily  opened  their 
gates ;  nothing  in  short  interrupted  the  impetuous  career 
of  Maximilian.  The  Bohemian  army,  commanded  by  the 
brave  Prince  Christian  of  Anhalt,  retreated  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Prague ;  where,  under  the  walls  of  the  city, 
Maximilian  offered  him  battle. 

The  wretched  condition  in  which  he  hoped  to  surprise 
the  insurgents  justified  the  rapidity  of  the  duke's  move- 
ments, and  secured  him  the  victory.  Frederick's  army 
did  not  amount  to  thirty  thousand  men.  Eight  thousand 
of  these  were  furnished  by  the  Prince  of  Anhalt ;  ten 
thousand  were  Hungarians,  whom  Bethlen  Gabor  had 
despatched  to  his  assistance.  An  inroad  of  the  Elector  of 
Saxony  upon  Lusatia  had  cut  off  all  succors  from  that 
country  and  from  Silesia ;  the  pacification  of  Austria  put 
an  end  to  all  his  expectations  from  that  quarter ;  Bethlen 
Gabor,  his  most  powerful  ally,  remained  inactive  in  Tran- 
sylvania ;  the  Union  had  betrayed  his  cause  to  the 
Emperor.  Nothing  remained  to  him  but  his  Bohemians ; 
and  they  were  without  good-will  to  his  cause,  and  without 
unity  and  courage.  The  Bohemian  magnates  were  indig- 
nant that  German  generals  should  be  put  over  their  heads ; 
Count  Mansfeld  remained  in  Pilsen,  at  a  distance  from 
the  camp,  to  avoid  the  mortification  of  serving  under 
Anhalt  and  Hohenlohe.  The  soldiers,  in  want  of  neces- 
saries, became  dispirited  ;  and  the  little  discipline  that 
was  observed  gave  occasion  to  bitter  complaints  from  the 
peasantry.  It  was  in  vain  that  Frederick  made  his  ap- 
pearance in  the  camp,  in  the  hope  of  reviving  the  courage 
of  the  soldiers  by  his  presence,  and  of  kindling  the  emu- 
lation of  the  nobles  by  his  example. 

The  Bohemians  had  begun  to  entrench  themselves  on 
the  White  Mountain,  near  Prague,  when  they  were  at- 
tacked by  the  Imperial  and  Bavarian  armies,  on  the  8th 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  83 

Xoveniber,  1620.  In  the  beginning  of  the  action  some 
advantages  were  gained  by  the  cavalry  of  the  Prince  of 
Anhalt ;  but  the  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy  soon 
neutralized  them.  The  charge  of  tha  Bavarians  and  Wal- 
loons was  irresistible.  The  Hungarian  cavalry  was  the 
first  to  retreat.  The  Bohemian  infantry  soon  followed  their 
example;  and  the  Germans  were  at  last  carried  along 
with  them  in  the  general  flight.  Ten  cannons,  composing 
the  whole  of  Frederick's  artillery,  were  taken  by  the 
enemy ;  four  thousand  Bohemians  fell  in  the  flight  and  on 
the  field;  while  of  the  Imperialists  and  soldiers  of  the 
League  only  a  few  hundred  were  killed.  In  less  than  an 
hour  this  decisive  action  was  over. 

Frederick  was  seated  at  table  in  Prague  while  his 
army  was  thus  cut  to  pieces.  It  is  probable  that  he  had 
not  expected  the  attack  on  this  day,  since  he  had  ordered 
an  entertainment  for  it.  A  messenger  summoned  him 
from  table  to  show  him  from  the  walls  the  whole  frightful 
scene.  He  requested  a  cessation  of  hostilities  for  twenty- 
four  hours  for  deliberation ;  but  eight  was  all  the  Duke 
of  Bavaria  would  allow  him.  Frederick  availed  him- 
self of  these  to  fly  by  night  from  the  capital,  with  his 
wife  and  the  chief  officers  of  his  army.  This  flight  was  so 
hurried  that  the  Prince  of  Anhalt  left  behind  him  his  most 
private  papers  and  Frederick  his  crown.  "I  know  now 
what  I  am,"  said  this  unfortunate  prince  to  those  who 
endeavored  to  comfort  him ;  "  there  are  virtues  which 
misfortune  only  can  teach  us,  and  it  is  in  adversity  alone 
that  princes  learn  to  know  themselves." 

Prague  was  not  irretrievably  lost  when  Frederick's 
pusillanimity  abandoned  it.  The  light  troops  of  Mansfeld 
were  still  in  Pilsen,  and  were  not  engaged  in  the  action. 
Bethlen  Gabor  might  at  any  moment  have  assumed  an 
offensive  attitude,  and  drawn  off  the  Emperor's  army  to 
the  Hungarian  frontier.  The  defeated  Bohemians  might 
rally.  Sickness,  famine,  and  the  inclement  weather  might 
wear  out  the  enemy;  but  all  these  hopes  disappeared 
before  the  immediate  alarm.  Frederick  dreaded  the 
fickleness  of  the  Bohemians,  who  might  probably  yield  to 
the  temptation  to  purchase,  by  the  surrender  of  his  person, 
the  pardon  of  the  Emperor, 


84  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

Thurn,  and  those  of  this  party  who  were  in  the  same 
condemnation  with  him,  found  it  equally  inexpedient  to 
await  their  destiny  within  the  walls  of  Prague.  They 
retired  towards  Moravia,  with  a  view  of  seeking  refuge 
in  Transylvania.  Frederick  fled  to  Breslau,  where,  how- 
ever, he  only  remained  a  short  time.  He  removed  from 
thence  to  the  court  of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  and 
finally  took  shelter  in  Holland. 

The  battle  of  Prague  had  decided  the  fate  of  Bohemia. 
Prague  surrendered  the  next  day  to  the  victors  ;  the 
other  towns  followed  the  example  of  the  capital.  The 
Estates  did  homage  without  conditions,  and  the  same  was 
done  by  those  of  Silesia  and  Moravia.  The  Emperor 
allowed  three  months  to  elapse  before  instituting  any 
inquiry  into  the  past.  Reassured  by  this  apparent  clem- 
ency, many  who  at  first  had  fled  in  terror  appeared  again 
in  the  capital.  All  at  once,  however,  the  storm  burst 
forth ;  forty^eight  of  the  most  active  among  the  insurgents 
were  arrested  on  the  same  day  and  hour,  and  tried  by  an 
extraordinary  commission,  composed  of  native  Bohemians 
and  Austrians.  Of  these,  twenty-seven,  and  of  the  com- 
mon people  an  immense  number,  expired  on  the  scaffold. 
The  absenting  offenders  were  summoned  to  appear  to 
their  trial,  and,  failing  to  do  so,  condemned  to  death  as 
traitors  and  offenders  against  his  Catholic  Majesty,  their 
estates  confiscated,  and  their  names  affixed  to  the  gallows. 
The  property  also  of  the  rebels  who  had  fallen  in  the  field 
was  seized.  This  tyranny  might  have  been  borne,  as  it 
affected  individuals  only,  and  while  the  ruin  of  one  en- 
riched another ;  but  more  intolerable  was  the  oppression 
which  extended  to  the  whole  kingdom  without  exception. 
All  the  Protestant  preachers  were  banished  from  the 
country;  the  Bohemians  first,  and  afterwards  those  of 
Germany.  The  Letter  of  Majesty  Ferdinand  tore  with 
his  own  hand  and  burnt  the  seal.  Seven  years  after  the 
battle  of  Prague  the  toleration  of  the  Protestant  religion 
within  the  kingdom  was  entirely  revoked.  But  what- 
ever violence  the  Emperor  allowed  himself  against  the 
religious  privileges  of  his  subjects,  he  carefully  abstained 
from  interfering  with  their  political  constitution ;  and 
while  he  deprived  them  of  the  liberty  of  thought,  he 


THE    THIRTY   YEAJRS'    WAR.  85 

magnanimously  left  them  the  prerogative  of  taxing  them- 
selves. 

The  victory  of  the  White  Mountain  put  Ferdinand  in 
possession  of  all  his  dominions.  It  even  invested  him 
with  greater  authority  over  them  than  his  predecessors 
enjoyed,  since  their  allegiance  had  been  unconditionally 
pledged  to  him,  and  no  Letter  of  Majesty  now  existed  to 
limit  his  sovereignty.  All  his  wishes  were  now  gratified 
to  a  degree  surpassing  his  most  sanguine  expectations. 

It  was  now  in  his  power  to  dismiss  his  allies  and  dis- 
band his  army.  If  he  was  just,  there  was  an  end  of  the 
war  —  if  he  was  both  magnanimous  and  just,  punishment 
was  also  at  an  end.  The  fate  of  Germany  was  in  his 
hands ;  the  happiness  and  misery  of  millions  depended  on 
the  resolution  he  should  take.  Never  was  so  great  a 
decision  resting  on  a  single  mind  ;  never  did  the  blindness 
of  one  man  produce  so  much  ruin. 


BOOK  II. 

THE  resolution  which  Ferdinand  now  adopted  gave  to 
the  war  a  new  direction,  a  new  scene,  and  new  actors. 
From  a  rebellion  in  Bohemia,  and  the  chastisement  of 
rebels,  a  war  extended  first  to  Germany,  and  afterwards 
to  Europe.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  take  a  general 
survey  of  the  state  of  affairs  both  in  Germany  and  the 
rest  of  Europe. 

Unequally  as  the  territory  of  Germany  and  the  privi- 
leges of  its  members  were  divided  among  the  Roman 
Catholics  and  the  Protestants,  neither  party  could  hope 
to  maintain  itself  against  the  encroachments  of  its  adver- 
sary otherwise  than  by  a  prudent  use  of  its  peculiar  ad- 
vantages, and  by  a  politic  union  among  themselves.  If 
the  Roman  Catholics  were  the  more  numerous  party,  and 
more  favored  by  the  constitution  of  the  Empire,  the  Prot- 
estants, on  the  other  hand,  had  the  advantage  of  posses- 
sing a  more  compact  and  populous  line  of  territories, 


86  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

valiant  princes,  a  warlike  nobility,  numerous  armies, 
flourishing  free  towns,  the  command  of  the  sea,  and,  even 
at  the  worst,  certainty  of  support  from  Roman  Catholic 
states.  If  the  Catholics  could  arm  Spain  and  Italy  in 
their  favor,  the  republics  of  Venice,  Holland,  and  Eng- 
land opened  their  treasures  to  the  Protestants,  while  the 
states  of  the  North  and  the  formidable  power  of  Turkey 
stood  ready  to  afford  them  prompt  assistance.  Branden- 
burg, Saxony,  and  the  Palatinate  opposed  three  Protest- 
ant to  three  Ecclesiastical  votes  in  the  Electoral  College ; 
while  to  the  Elector  of  Bohemia,  as  to  the  Archduke  of 
Austria,  the  possession  of  the  Imperial  dignity  was  an 
important  check  if  the  Protestants  properly  availed 
themselves  of  it.  The  sword  of  the  Union  might  keep 
within  its  sheath  the  sword  of  the  League ;  or,  if  matters 
actually  came  to  a  war,  might  make  the  issue  of  it  doubt- 
ful. But,  unfortunately,  private  interests  dissolved  the 
band  of  union  which  should  have  held  together  the 
Protestant  members  of  the  empire.  This  critical  con- 
juncture found  none  but  second-rate  actors  on  the  political 
stage,  and  the  decisive  moment  was  neglected  because  the 
courageous  were  deficient  in  power,  and  the  powerful  in 
sagacity,  courage,  and  resolution. 

The  Elector  of  Saxony  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
German  Protestants  by  the  services  of  his  ancestor  Man- 
rice,  by  the  extent  of  his  territories,  and  by  the  influence  of 
his  electoral  vote.  Upon  the  resolution  he  might  adopt 
the  fate  of  the  contending  parties  seemed  to  depend  ;  and 
John  George  was  not  insensible  to  the  advantages  which 
this  important  situation  procured  him.  Equally  valuable 
as  an  ally,  both  to  the  Emperor  and  to  the  Protestant 
Union,  he  cautiously  avoided  committing  himself  to  either 
party;  neither  trusting  himself  by  any  irrevocable  declar- 
ation entirely  to  the  gratitude  of  the  Emperor,  nor 
renouncing  the  advantages  which  were  to  be  gained  from 
his  fears.  Uninfected  by  the  contagion  of  religious  and 
romantic  enthusiasm  which  hurried  sovereign  after  sov- 
ereign to  risk  both  crown  and  life  on  the  hazard  of  war, 
John  George  aspired  to  the  more  solid  renown  of  improv- 
ing and  advancing  the  interests  of  his  territories.  His 
contemporaries  accused  him  of  forsaking  the  Protestant 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  87 

cause  in  the  very  midst  of  the  storm ;  of  preferring  the 
aggrandizement  of  his  house  to  the  emancipation  of  his 
country ;  of  exposing  the  whole  Evangelical  or  Lutheran 
church  of  Germany  to  ruin  rather  than  raise  an  arm  in 
defence  of  the  Reformed  or  Calvinists;  of  injuring  the 
common  cause  by  his  suspicious  friendship  more  seriously 
than  the  open  enmity  of  its  avowed  opponents.  But  it 
would  have  been  well  if  his  accusers  had  imitated  the 
wise  policy  of  the  Elector.  If,  despite  of  the  prudent 
policy,  the  Saxons,  like  all  others,  groaned  at  the  cruelties 
which  marked  the  Emperor's  progress;  if  all  Germany 
was  a  witness  how  Ferdinand  deceived  his  confederates 
and  trifled  with  his  engagements;  if  even  the  Elector 
himself  at  last  perceived  this  —  the  more  shame  to  the 
Emperor  who  could  so  basely  betray  such  implicit  confi- 
dence. 

If  an  excessive  reliance  on  the  Emperor,  and  the  hope 
of  enlarging  his  territories,  tied  the  hands  of  the  Elector 
of  Saxony,  the  weak  George  William,  Elector  of  Bran- 
denburg, was  still  more  shamefully  fettered  by  fear  of 
Austria  and  of  the  loss  of  his  dominions.  What  was 
made  a  reproach  against  these  princes  would  have  pre- 
served to  the  Elector  Palatine  his  fame  and  his  kingdom. 
A  rash  confidence  in  his  untried  strength,  the  influence  of 
French  counsels,  and  the  temptation  of  a  crown  had 
seduced  that  unfortunate  prince  into  an  enterprise  for 
which  he  had  neither  adequate  genius  nor  political  capac- 
ity. The  partition  of  his  territories  among  discordant 
princes  enfeebled  the  Palatinate,  which,  united,  might 
have  made  a  longer  resistance. 

This  partition  of  territory  was  equally  injurious  to  the 
House  of  Hesse,  in  which,  between  Darmstadt  and  Cassel, 
religious  dissensions  had  occasioned  a  fatal  division.  The 
line  of  Darmstadt,  adhering  to  the  Confession  of  Augs- 
burg, had  placed  itself  under  the  Emperor's  protection, 
who  favored  it  at  the  expense  of  the  Calvinists  of  Cassel. 
While  his  religious  confederates  were  shedding  their 
blood  for  their  faith  and  their  liberties,  the  Landgrave  of 
Darmstadt  was  won  over  by  the  Emperor's  gold.  But 
William  of  Cassel,  every  way  worthy  of  his  ancestor,  who, 
a  century  before,  had  defended  the  freedom  of  Germany 


88  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

against  the  formidable  Charles  V.,  espoused  the  cause  of 
danger  and  of  honor.  Superior  to  that  pusillanimity 
which  made  far  more  powerful  princes  bow  before  Ferdi- 
nand's might,  the  Landgrave  William  was  the  first  to  join 
the  hero  of  Sweden,  and  set  an  example  to  the  princes  of 
Germany,  which  all  had  hesitated  to  begin.  The  boldness 
of  his  resolve  was  equalled  by  the  steadfastness  of  his 
perseverance  and  the  valor  of  his  exploits.  He  placed 
himself  with  unshrinking  resolution  before  his  bleeding 
country,  and  boldly  confronted  the  fearful  enemy,  whose 
hands  were  still  reeking  from  the  carnage  of  Magdeburg. 

The  Landgrave  William  deserves  to  descend  to  immor- 
tality with  the  heroic  race  of  Ernest.  Thy  day  of  ven- 
geance was  long  delayed,  unfortunate  John  Frederick! 
Noble !  never-to-be-forgotten  prince !  Slowly  but  brightly 
it  broke.  Thy  times  returned,  and  thy  heroic  spirit  de- 
scended on  thy  grandson.  An  intrepid  race  of  princes 
issues  from  the  Thuringian  forests  to  shame,  by  immortal 
deeds,  the  unjust  sentence  which  robbed  thee  of  the  elec- 
toral crown  —  to  avenge  thy  offended  shade  by  heaps  of 
bloody  sacrifice.  The  sentence  of  the  conqueror  could 
deprive  thee  of  thy  territories,  but  not  that  spirit  of 
patriotism  which  staked  them,  nor  that  chivalrous  courage 
which,  a  century  afterwards,  was  destined  to  shake  the 
throne  of  his  descendant.  Thy  vengeance  and  that  of 
Germany  whetted  the  sacred  sword,  and  one  heroic  hand 
after  the  other  wielded  the  irresistible  steel.  As  men 
they  achieved  what  as  sovereigns  they  dared  not  under- 
take ;  they  met  in  a  glorious  cause  as  the  valiant  soldiers 
of  liberty.  Too  weak  in  territory  to  attack  the  enemy 
with  their  own  forces,  they  directed  foreign  artillery 
against  them,  and  led  foreign  banners  to  victory. 

The  liberties  of  Germany,  abandoned  by  the  more 
powerful  states,  who,  however,  enjoyed  most  of  the  pros- 
perity accruing  from  them,  were  defended  by  a  few 
princes  for  whom  they  were  almost  without  value,  The 
possession  of  territories  and  dignities  deadened  courage ; 
the  want  of  both  made  heroes.  While  Saxony,  Branden- 
burg, and  the  rest  drew  back  in  terror,  Anhalt,  Mansfeld, 
the  Prince  of  Weimar  and  others  were  shedding  their 
blood  in  the  field.  The  Dukes  of  Pomerania,  Mecklen- 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS*    WAR.  89 

burg,  Luneburg,  and  Wirtemberg,  and  the  free  cities  of 
Upper  Germany,  to  whom  the  name  of  Emperor  was  of 
course  a  formidable  one,  anxiously  avoided  a  contest  with 
such  an  opponent,  and  crouched  murmuring  beneath  his 
mighty  arm. 

Austria  and  Roman  Catholic  Germany  possessed  in 
Maximilian  of  Bavaria  a  champion  as  prudent  as  he  was 
powerful.  Adhering  throughout  the  war  to  one  fixed 
plan,  never  divided  between  his  religion  and  his  political 
interests ;  not  the  slavish  dependent  of  Austria,  who  was 
laboring  for  his  advancement,  and  trembled  before  her 
powerful  protector,  Maximilian  earned  the  territories  and 
dignities  that  rewarded  his  exertions.  The  other  Roman 
Catholic  states,  which  were  chiefly  ecclesiastical,  too  un- 
warlike  to  resist  the  multitudes  whom  the  prosperity  of 
their  territories  allured,  became  the  victims  of  the  war 
one  after  another,  and  were  contented  to  persecute  in  the 
cabinet  and  in  the  pulpit  the  enemy  whom  they  could  not 
openly  oppose  in  the  field.  All  of  them,  slaves  either  to 
Austria  or  Bavaria,  sunk  into  insignificance  by  the  side 
of  Maximilian ;  in  his  hand  alone  their  united  power 
could  be  rendered  available. 

The  formidable  monarchy  which  Charles  V.  and  his 
son  had  unnaturally  constructed  of  the  Netherlands, 
Milan,  and  the  two  Sicilies,  and  their  distant  possessions 
in  the  East  and  West  Indies,  was  under  Philip  III.  and 
Philip  IV.  fast  verging  to  decay.  Swollen  to  a  sudden 
greatness  by  unfruitful  gold,  this  power  was  now  sinking 
under  a  visible  decline,  neglecting,  as  it  did,  agriculture, 
the  natural  support  of  states.  The  conquests  in  the  West 
Indies  had  reduced  Spain  itself  to  poverty,  while  they 
enriched  the  markets  of  Europe ;  the  bankers  of  Antwerp, 
Venice,  and  Genoa  were  making  profit  on  the  gold  which 
was  still  buried  in  the  mines  of  Peru.  For  the  sake  of 
India  Spain  had  been  depopulated,  while  the  treasures 
drawn  from  thence  were  wasted  in  the  reconquest  of 
Holland,  in  the  chimerical  project  of  changing  the  succes- 
sion to  the  crown  of  France,  and  in  an  unfortunate  attack 
upon  England.  But  the  pride  of  this  court  had  survived 
its  greatness,  as  the  hate  of  its  enemies  had  outlived  its 
power.  Distrust  of  the  Protestants  suggested  to  the 


90  THE   THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

ministry  of  Philip  III.  the  dangerous  policy  of  his  father ; 
and  the  reliance  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Germany  on 
Spanish  assistance  was  as  firm  as  their  belief  in  the 
wonder-working  bones  of  the  martyrs.  External  splen- 
dor concealed  the  inward  Avounds  at  which  the  life-blood 
of  this  monarchy  was  oozing ;  and  the  belief  of  its  strength 
survived,  because  it  still  maintained  the  lofty  tone  of  its 
golden  days.  Slaves  in  their  palaces,  and  strangers  even 
upon  their  own  thrones,  the  Spanish  nominal  kings  still 
gave  laws  to  their  German  relations ;  though  it  is  very 
doubtful  if  the  support  they  afforded  was  worth  the  de- 
pendence by  which  the  emperors  purchased  it.  The  fate 
of  Europe  was  decided  behind  the  Pyrenees  by  ignorant 
monks  or  vindictive  favorites.  Yet,  even  in  its  debase- 
ment, a  power  must  always  be  formidable  which  yields  to 
none  in  extent ;  which,  from  custom,  if  not  from  the  stead- 
fastness of  its  viaws,  adhered  faithfully  to  one  system  of 
policy ;  which  possessed  well-disciplined  armies  and  con- 
summate generals ;  which,  where  the  sword  failed,  did  not 
scruple  to  employ  the  dagger ;  and  converted  even  its  am- 
bassadors into  incendiaries  and  assassins.  What  it  had  lost 
in  three  quarters  of  the  globe  it  now  sought  to  regain  to 
the  eastward,  and  all  Europe  was  at  its  mercy,  if  it  could 
succeed  in  its  long-cherished  design  of  uniting  with  the 
hereditary  dominions  of  Austria  all  that  lay  between  the 
Alps  and  the  Adriatic. 

To  the  great  alarm  of  the  native  states  this  formidable 
power  had  gained  a  footing  in  Italy,  where  its  continual 
encroachments  made  the  neighboring  sovereigns  to  trem- 
ble for  their  own  possessions.  The  Pope  himself  was  in 
the  most  dangerous  situation,  —  hemmed  in  on  both  sides 
by  the  Spanish  ^7iceroys  of  Naples  on  the  one  side,  and 
that  of  Milan  upon  the  other.  Venice  was  confined  be- 
tween the  Austrian  Tyrol  and  the  Spanish  territories  in 
Milan.  Savoy  was  surrounded  by  the  latter  and  France. 
Hence  the  wavering  and  equivocal  policy  which,  from 
the  time  of  Charles  V.,  had  been  pursued  by  the  Italian 
states.  The  double  character  which  pertained  to  the 
Popes  made  them  perpetually  vacillate  between  two  con- 
tradictory systems  of  policy.  If  the  successors  of  St. 
Peter  found  in  the  Spanish  princes  their  most  obedient 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  91 

disciples,  and  the  most  steadfast  supporters  of  the  Papal 
See,  yet  the  princes  of  the  states  of  the  Church  had  in 
these  monarchs  their  most  dangerous  neighbors  and  most 
formidable  opponents.  If,  in  the  one  capacity,  their 
dearest  wish  was  the  destruction  of  the  Protestants,  and 
the  triumph  of  Austria  in  the  other,  they  had  reason  to 
bless  the  arms  of  the  Protestants  which  disabled  a  dan- 
gerous enemy.  The  one  or  the  other  sentiment  prevailed, 
according  as  the  love  of  temporal  dominion  or  zeal  for 
spiritual  supremacy  predominated  in  the  mind  of  the 
Pope.  But  the  policy  of  Rome  was,  on  the  whole,  directed 
to  immediate  dangers ;  and  it  is  well  known  how  far  more 
powerful  is  the  apprehension  of  losing  a  present  good 
than  anxiety  to  recover  a  long  lost  possession.  And  thus 
it  becomes  intelligible  how  the  Pope  should  first  combine 
with  Austria  for  the  destruction  of  heresy,  and  then  con- 
spire with  these  very  heretics  for  the  destruction  of 
Austria.  Strangely  blended  are  the  threads  of  human 
affairs !  What  would  have  become  of  the  Reformation 
and  of  the  liberties  of  Germany  if  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
and  the  Prince  of  Rome  had  had  but  one  interest? 

France  had  lost  with  its  great  Henry  all  its  importance 
and  all  its  weight  in  the  political  balance  of  Europe.  A 
turbulent  minority  had  destroyed  all  the  benefits  of  the 
able  administration  of  Henry.  Incapable  ministers,  the 
creatures  of  court  intrigue,  squandered  in  a  few  years  the 
treasures  which  Sully's  economy  and  Henry's  frugality  had 
amassed.  Scarce  able  to  maintain  their  ground  against 
internal  factions,  they  were  compelled  to  resign  to  other 
hands  the  helm  of  European  affairs.  The  same  civil  war 
which  armed  Germany  against  itself  excited  a  similar 
commotion  in  France ;  and  Louis  XIII.  attained  majority 
only  to  wage  a  war  with  his  own  mother  and  his  Prot- 
estant subjects.  This  party,  which  had  been  kept  quiet  by 
Henry's  enlightened  policy,  now  seized  the  opportunity 
to  take  up  arms,  and  under  the  command  of  some  adven- 
turous leaders,  began  to  form  themselves  into  a  party 
within  the  state,  and  to  fix  on  the  strong  and  powerful 
town  of  Rochelle  as  the  capital  of  their  intended  kingdom. 
Too  little  of  a  statesman  to  suppress  by  a  prudent  toler- 
ation this  civil  commotion  in  its  birth,  and  too  little 


92  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

master  of  the  resources  of  his  kingdom  to  direct  them 
with  energy,  Louis  XIII.  was  reduced  to  the  degradation 
of  purchasing  the  submission  of  the  rebels  by  large  sums 
of  money.  Though  policy  might  incline  him  in  one  point 
of  view  to  assist  the  Bohemian  insurgents  against  Austria, 
the  son  of  Henry  IV.  was  now  compelled  to  be  an  inactive 
spectator  of  their  destruction,  happy  enough  if  the  Cal- 
vinists  in  his  own  dominions  did  not  unseasonably  bethink 
them  of  their  confederates  beyond  the  Rhine.  A  great 
mind  at  the  helm  of  state  would  have  reduced  the  Prot- 
estants in  France  to  obedience,  while  it  employed  them 
to  fight  for  the  independence  of  their  German  brethren. 
But  Henry  IV.  was  no  more,  and  Richelieu  had  not  yet 
revived  his  system  of  policy. 

While  the  glory  of  France  was  thus  upon  the  wane,  the 
emancipated  republic  of  Holland  was  completing  the 
fabric  of  its  greatness.  The  enthusiastic  courage  had  not 
yet  died  away  which,  enkindled  by  the  House  of  Orange, 
had  converted  this  mei'cantile  people  into  a  nation  of 
heroes,  and  had  enabled  them  to  maintain  their  independ- 
ence in  a  bloody  war  against  the  Spanish  monarchy. 
Aware  how  much  they  owed  their  own  liberty  to  foreign 
support,  these  republicans  were  ready  to  assist  their  Ger- 
man brethren  in  a  similar  cause,  and  the  more  so  as  both 
were  opposed  to  the  same  enemy,  and  the  liberty  of  Ger- 
many was  the  best  warrant  for  that  of  Holland.  But  a 
republic  which  had  still  to  battle  for  its  very  existence, 
which,  with  all  its  wonderful  exertions,  was  scarce  a 
match  for  the  formidable  enemy  within  its  own  territories, 
could  not  be  expected  to  withdraw  its  troops  from  the 
necessary  work  of  self-defence  to  employ  them  with  a 
magnanimous  policy  in  protecting  foreign  states. 

England,  too,  though  now  united  with  Scotland,  no 
longer  possessed,  under  the  weak  James,  that  influence 
in  the  affairs  of  Europe  which  the  governing  mind  of 
Elizabeth  had  procured  for  it.  Convinced  that  the  wel- 
fare of  her  dominions  depended  on  the  security  of  the 
Protestants,  this  politic  princess  had  never  swerved  from 
the  principle  of  promoting  every  enterprise  which  had 
for  its  object  the  diminution  of  the  Austrian  power. 
Her  successor  was  no  less  devoid  of  capacity  to  compre- 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  93 

hend,  than  of  vigor  to  execute,  her  views.  While  the 
economical  Elizabeth  spared  not  her  treasures  to  support 
the  Flemings  against  Spain,  and  Henry  IV.  against  the 
League,  James  abandoned  his  daughter,  his  son-in-law, 
and  his  grandchild  to  the  fury  of  their  enemies.  While 
he  exhausted  his  learning  to  establish  the  divine  right  of 
kings,  he  allowed  his  own  dignity  to  sink  into  the  dust; 
while  lie  exerted  his  rhetoric  to  prove  the  absolute 
authority  of  kings,  he  reminded  the  people  of  theirs  ;  and 
by  a  useless  profusion,  sacrificed  the  chief  of  his  sover- 
eign rights  —  that  of  dispensing  with  his  parliament,  and 
thus  depriving  liberty  of  its  organ.  An  innate  horror  at 
the  sight  of  a  naked  sword  averted  him  from  the  most 
just  of  wars;  while  his  favorite  Buckingham  practised 
on  his  weakness,  and  his  own  complacent  vanity  ren- 
dered him  an  easy  dupe  of  Spanish  artifice.  While  his 
son-in-law  was  ruined,  and  the  inheritance  of  his  grand- 
son given  to  others,  this  weak  prince  was  imbibing,  with 
satisfaction,  the  incense  which  was  offered  to  him  by 
Austria  and  Spain.  To  divert  his  attention  from  the 
German  war,  he  was  amused  with  the  proposal  of  a 
Spanish  marriage  for  his  son,  and  the  ridiculous  parent 
encouraged  the  romantic  youth  in  the  foolish  project  of 
paying  his  addresses  in  person  to  the  Spanish  princess. 
But  his  son  lost  his  bride,  as  his  son-in-law  lost  the  crown 
of  Bohemia  and  the  Palatine  Electorate  ;  and  death  alone 
saved  him  from  the  danger  of  closing  his  pacific  reign  by 
a  war  at  home,  which  he  never  had  courage  to  maintain, 
even  at  a  distance. 

The  domestic  disturbances  which  his  misgovernment 
had  gradually  excited  burst  forth  under  his  unfortunate 
son,  and  forced  him,  after  some  unimportant  attempts,  to 
renounce  all  further  participation  in  the  German  war,  in 
order  to  stem  within  his  own  kingdom  the  rage  of 
faction. 

Two  illustrious  monai'chs,  far  unequal  in  personal 
reputation,  but  equal  in  power  and  desire  of  fame,  made 
the  North  at  this  time  to  be  respected.  Under  the  long 
and  active  reign  of  Christian  IV.,  Denmark  had  risen 
into  importance.  The  personal  qualifications  of  this 
prince,  an  excellent  navy,  a  formidable  army,  well- 


94  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

ordered  finances,  and  prudent  alliances,  had  combined  to 
give  her  prosperity  at  home  and  influence  abroad.  Gus- 
tavus  Vasa  had  rescued  Sweden  from  vassalage,  reformed 
it  by  wise  laws,  and  had  introduced,  for  the  first  time, 
this  newly-organized  state  into  the  field  of  European 
politics.  What  this  great  prince  had  merely  sketched 
in  rude  outline  was  filled  up  by  Gustavus  Adolphus,  his 
still  greater  grandson. 

These  two  kingdoms,  once  unnaturally  united  and 
enfeebled  by  their  union,  had  been  violently  separated  at 
the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and  this  separation  was  the 
epoch  of  their  prosperity.  Injurious  as  this  compulsory 
union  had  proved  to  both  kingdoms,  equally  necessary  to 
each  apart  were  neighborly  friendship  and  harmony. 
On  both  the  evangelical  church  leaned  ;  both  had  the 
same  seas  to  protect  —  a  common  interest  ought  to  unite 
them  against  the  same  enemy.  But  the  hatred  which 
had  dissolved  the  union  of  these  monarchies  continued 
long  after  their  separation  to  divide  the  two  nations. 
The  Danish  kings  could  not  abandon  their  pretensions  to 
the  Swedish  crown,  nor  the  Swedes  banish  the  remem- 
brance of  Danish  oppression.  The  contiguous  boundaries 
of  the  two  kingdoms  constantly  furnished  materials  for 
international  quarrels,  while  the  watchful  jealousy  of 
both  kings,  and  the  unavoidable  collision  of  their  com- 
mercial interests  in  the  North  Seas,  were  inexhaustible 
sources  of  dispute. 

Among  the  means  of  which  Gustavus  Vasa,  the  founder 
of  the  Swedish  monarchy,  availed  himself  to  strengthen 
his  new  edifice,  the  Reformation  had  been  one  of  the 
principal.  A  fundamental  law  of  the  kingdom  excluded 
the  adherents  of  popery  from  all  offices  of  the  state,  and 
prohibited  every  future  sovereign  of  Sweden  from  alter- 
ing the  religious  constitution  of  the  kingdom.  But  the 
second  son  and  second  successor  of  Gustavus  had  re- 
lapsed into  popery,  and  his  son  Sigismund,  also  King  of 
Poland,  had  been  guilty  of  measures  which  menaced 
both  the  constitution  and  the  established  church.  Headed 
by  Charles,  Duke  of  Sudermania,  the  third  son  of  Gus- 
tavus, the  Estates  made  a  courageous  resistance,  which 
terminated,  at  last,  in  an  open  civil  war  between  the 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  95 

uncle  and  nephew,  and  between  the  King  and  the  people. 
Duke  Charles,  administrator  of  the  kingdom  during  the 
absence  of  the  king,  had  availed  himself  of  Sigismund's 
long  residence  in  Poland,  and  the  just  displeasure  of  the 
states,  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  nation,  and  grad- 
ually to  prepare  his  way  to  the  throne.  His  views  were 
not  a  little  forwarded  by  Sigismund's  imprudence.  A 
general  Diet  ventured  to  abolish,  in  favor  of  the  Pro- 
tector, the  rule  of  primogeniture  which  Gustavus  had 
established  in  the  succession,  and  placed  the  Duke  of 
Sudermania  on  the  throne,  from  which  Sigisrnund,  with 
his  whole  posterity,  were  solemnly  excluded.  The  son 
of  the  new  king  (who  reigned  under  the  name  of  Charles 
IX.)  was  Gustavus  Adolphus,  whom,  as  the  son  of  a 
usurper,  the  adherents  of  Sigismund  refused  to  recog- 
nize. But  if  the  obligations  between  monarchy  and 
subjects  are  reciprocal,  and  states  are  not  to  be  trans- 
mitted, like  a  lifeless  heirloom,  from  hand  to  hand,  a 
nation  acting  with  unanimity  must  have  the  power  of 
renouncing  their  allegiance  to  a  sovereign  who  has 
violated  his  obligations  to  them,  and  of  filling  his  place 
by  a  worthier  object. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  had  not  completed  his  seventeenth 
year  when  the  Swedish  throne  became  vacant  by  the 
death  of  his  father.  But  the  early  maturity  of  his  genius 
enabled  the  Estates  to  abridge  in  his  favor  the  legal 
period  of  minority.  With  a  glorious  conquest  over  him- 
self he  commenced  a  reign  which  was  to  have  victory  for 
its  constant  attendant,  a  career  which  was  to  begin  and 
end  in  success.  The  young  Countess  of  Brahe,  the 
daughter  of  a  subject,  had  gained  his  early  affections, 
and  he  had  resolved  to  share  with  her  the  Swedish  throne. 
But,  constrained  by  time  and  circumstances,  he  made  his 
attachment  yield  to  the  higher  duties  of  a  king,  and 
heroism  again  took  exclusive  possession  of  a  heart  which 
was  not  destined  by  nature  to  confine  itself  within  the 
limits  of  quiet  domestic  happiness. 

Christian  IV.  of  Denmark,  who  had  ascended  the 
throne  before  the  birth  of  Gustavus,  in  an  inroad  upon 
Sweden,  had  gained  some  considerable  advantages  over 
the  father  of  that  hero.  Gustavus  Adolphus  hastened  to 


96  THE   THIRTY   YEARS*    WAR. 

put  an  end  to  this  destructive  war,  and  by  prudent 
sacrifices  obtained  a  peace  in  order  to  turn  his  arms 
against  the  Czar  of  Muscovy.  The  questionable  fame  of 
a  conqueror  never  tempted  him  to  spend  the  blood  of  his 
subjects  in  unjust  wars;  but  he  never  shrunk  from  a  just 
one.  His  arms  were  successful  against  Russia,  and 
Sweden  was  augmented  by  several  important  provinces 
on  the  east. 

In  the  meantime,  Sigismund  of  Poland  retained  against 
the  son  the  same  sentiments  of  hostility  which  the  father 
had  provoked,  and  left  no  artifice  untried  to  shake  the 
allegiance  of  his  subjects,  to  cool  the  ardor  of  his  friends, 
and  to  embitter  his  enemies.  Neither  the  great  qualities 
of  his  rival,  nor  the  repeated  proofs  of  devotion  which 
Sweden  gave  to  her  loved  monarch,  could  extinguish  in 
this  infatuated  prince  the  foolish  hope  of  regaining  his 
lost  throne.  All  Gustavus'  overtures  were  haughtily 
rejected.  Unwillingly  was  this  really  peaceful  king 
involved  in  a  tedious  war  with  Poland,  in  which  the 
whole  of  Livonia  and  Polish  Prussia  were  successively 
conquered.  Though  constantly  victorious,  Gustavus 
Adolphus  was  always  the  first  to  hold  out  the  hand  of 
peace. 

This  contest  between  Sweden  and  Poland  falls  some- 
where about  the  beginning  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  in 
Germany,  with  which  it  is  in  some  measure  connected. 
It  was  enough  that  Sigismund,  himself  a  Roman  Catholic, 
was  disputing  the  Swedish  crown  with  a  Protestant 
prince,  to  assure  him  the  active  support  of  Spain  and 
Austria ;  while  a  double  relationship  to  the  Emperor 
gave  him  a  still  stronger  claim  to  his  protection.  It  was 
his  reliance  on  this  powerful  assistance  that  chiefly 
encouraged  the  King  of  Poland  to  continue  the  war, 
which  had  hitherto  turned  out  so  unfavorably  for  him, 
and  the  courts  of  Madrid  and  Vienna  failed  not  to 
encourage  him  by  high-sounding  promises.  While  Sigis- 
mund lost  one  place  after  another  in  Livonia,  Courland, 
and  Prussia,  he  saw  his  ally  in  Germany  advancing  from 
conquest  after  conquest  to  unlimited  power.  No  wonder 
then  if  his  aversion  to  peace  kept  pace  with  his  losses. 
The  vehemence  with  which  he  nourished  his  chimerical 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  D7 

hopes  blinded  him  to  the  artful  policy  of  his  confederates, 
who  at  his  expense  were  keeping  the  Swedish  hero 
employed,  in  order  to  overturn,  without  opposition,  the 
liberties  of  Germany,  and  then  to  seize  on  the  exhausted 
North  as  an  easy  conquest.  One  circumstance  which  had 
not  been  calculated  on  —  the  magnanimity  of  Gustavus  — 
overthrew  this  deceitful  policy.  An  eight  years'  war  in 
Poland,  so  far  from  exhausting  the  poAver  of  Sweden, 
had  only  served  to  mature  the  military  genius  of  Gustavus, 
to  inure  the  Swedish  army  to  warfare,  and  insensibly  to 
perfect  that  system  of  tactics  by  which  they  were  after- 
wards to  perform  such  wonders  in  Germany. 

After  this  necessary  digression  on  the  existing  circum- 
stances of  Europe,  I  now  resume  the  thread  of  my  history. 

Ferdinand  had  regained  his  dominions,  but  had  not 
indemnified  himself  for  the  expenses  of  recovering  them. 
A  sum  of  forty  millions  of  florins,  which  the  confiscations 
in  Bohemia  and  Moravia  had  produced,  would  have 
sufficed  to  reimburse  both  himself  and  his  allies ;  but  the 
Jesuits  and  his  favorites  soon  squandered  this  sum,  large 
as  it  was.  Maximilian,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  to  whose  vic- 
torious arm,  principally,  the  Emperor  owed  the  recovery 
of  his  dominions;  who,  in  the  service  of  religion  and  the 
Emperor,  had  sacrificed  his  near  relation,  had  the 
strongest  claims  on  his  gratitude ;  and,  moreover,  in  a 
treaty  which,  before  the  war,  the  duke  had  concluded 
with  the  Emperor,  he  had  expressly  stipulated  for  the 
reimbursement  of  all  expenses.  Ferdinand  felt  the  full 
weight  of  the  obligation  imposed  upon  him  by  this  treaty 
and  by  these  services,  but  he  was  not  disposed  to  discharge 
it  at  his  own  cost.  His  purpose  was  to  bestow  a  brilliant 
reward  upon  the  duke,  but  without  detriment  to  himself. 
How  could  this  be  done  better  than  at  the  expense  of  the 
unfortunate  prince  who,  by  his  revolt,  had  given  the 
Emperor  a  right  to  punish  him,  and  whose  offences 
might  be  painted  in  colors  strong  enough  to  justify  the 
most  violent  measures  under  the  appearance  of  law. 
That,  then,  Maximilian  may  be  rewarded,  Frederick 
must  be  further  persecuted  and  totally  ruined  ;  and  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  old  war  a  new  one  must  be 
commenced. 


98  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

But  a  still  stronger  motive  combined  to  enforce  the 
first.  Hitherto  Ferdinand  had  been  contending  for 
existence  alone ;  he  had  been  fulfilling  no  other  duty 
than  that  of  self-defence.  But  now,  when  victory  gave 
him  freedom  to  act,  a  higher  duty  occurred  to  him,  and 
he  remembered  the  vow  which  he  had  made  at  Loretto 
and  at  Rome,  to  his  generalissimo,  the  Holy  Virgin,  to 
extend  her  worship  even  at  the  risk  of  his  crown  and 
life.  With  this  object  the  oppression  of  the  Protestants 
was  inseparably  connected.  More  favorable  circum- 
stances for  its  accomplishment  could  not  offer  than  those 
which  presented  themselves  at  the  close  of  the  Bohemian 
war.  Neither  the  power,  nor  a  pretext  of  right,  were 
now  wanting  to  enable  him  to  place  the  Palatinate  in  the 
hands  of  the  Catholics,  and  the  importance  of  this  change 
to  the  Catholic  interests  in  Germany  would  be  incalcul- 
able. Thus,  in  rewarding  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  with  the 
spoils  of  his  relation,  he  at  once  gratified  his  meanest 
passions  and  fulfilled  his  most  exalted  duties ;  he  crushed 
an  enemy  whom  he  hated,  and  spared  his  avarice  a 
painful  sacrifice,  while  he  believed  he  was  winning  an 
heavenly  crown. 

In  the  Emperor's  cabinet  the  ruin  of  Frederick  had 
been  resolved  upon  long  before  fortune  had  decided 
against  him  ;  but  it  was  only  after  this  event  that  they 
ventured  to  direct  against  him  the  thunders  of  arbitrary 
power.  A  decree  of  the  Emperor,  destitute  of  all  the 
formalities  required  on  such  occasions  by  the  laws  of  the 
Empire,  pronounced  the  Elector,  and  three  other  princes 
who  had  borne  arms  for  him  at  Silesia  and  Bohemia,  as 
offenders  against  the  imperial  majesty,  and  disturbers  of 
the  public  peace,  under  the  ban  of  the  empire,  and 
deprived  them  of  their  titles  and  territories.  The  execu- 
tion of  this  sentence  against  Frederick,  namely,  the  seizure 
of  his  lands,  was,  in  further  contempt  of  law,  committed 
to  Spain  as  Sovereign  of  the  circle  of  Burgundy,  to  the 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  the  League.  Had  the  Evangelic 
Union  been  worthy  of  the  name  it  bore,  and  of  the  cause 
which  it  pretended  to  defend,  insuperable  obstacles  might 
have  prevented  the  execution  of  the  sentence ;  but  it  was 
hopeless  for  a  power  which  was  far  from  a  match  even 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  99 

for  the  Spanish  troops  in  the  Lower  Palatinate,  to  con- 
tend against  the  united  strength  of  the  Emperor,  Bavaria, 
and  the  League.  The  sentence  of  proscription  pronounced 
upon  the  Elector  soon  detached  the  free  cities  from  the 
Union  ;  and  the  princes  quickly  followed  their  example. 
Fortunate  in  preserving  their  own  dominions,  they  aban- 
doned the  Elector,  their  former  chief,  to  the  Emperor's 
mercy,  renounced  the  Union,  and  vowed  never  to  revive 
it  again. 

But  while  thus  ingloriously  the  German  princes  deserted 
the  unfortunate  Frederick,  and  while  Bohemia,  Silesia, 
and  Moravia  submitted  to  the  Emperor,  a  single  man,  a 
soldier  of  fortune,  whose  only  treasure  was  his  sword, 
Ernest  Count  Mansfeld,  dared,  in  the  Bohemian  town  of 
Pilsen,  to  defy  the  whole  power  of  Austria.  Left  without 
assistance  after  the  battle  of  Prague  by  the  Elector,  to 
whose  service  he  had  devoted  himself,  and  even  uncertain 
whether  Frederick  would  thank  him  for  his  perseverance, 
he  alone  for  some  time  held  out  against  the  imperialists, 
till  the  garrison,  mutinying  for  want  of  pay,  sold  the  town 
to  the  Emperor.  Undismayed  by  this  reverse,  he  imme- 
diately commenced  new  levies  in  the  Upper  Palatinate, 
and  enlisted  the  disbanded  troops  of  the  Union.  A  new 
army  of  twenty  thousand  men  was  soon  assembled 
under  his  banners,  the  more  formidable  to  the  provinces 
which  might  be  the  object  of  its  attack,  because  it  must  sub- 
sist by  plunder.  Uncertain  where  this  swarm  might  light, 
the  neighboring  bishops  trembled  for  their  rich  posses- 
sions, which  offered  a  tempting  prey  to  its  ravages.  But, 
pressed  by  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  who  now  entered  the 
Upper  Palatinate,  Mansfeld  was  compelled  to  retire. 
Eluding,  by  a  successful  stratagem,  the  Bavarian  general, 
Tilly,  who  was  in  pursuit  of  him,  he  suddenly  appeared 
in  the  Lower  Palatinate,  and  there  wreaked  upon  the 
bishoprics  of  the  Rhine  the  severities  he  had  designed  for 
those  of  Franconia.  While  the  imperial  and  Bavarian 
allies  thus  overran  Bohemia,  the  Spanish  general,  Spinola, 
had  penetrated  with  a  numerous  army  from  the  Nether- 
lands, into  the  Lower  Palatinate,  which,  however,  the 
pacification  of  Ulm  permitted  the  Union  to  defend.  But 
their  measures  were  so  badly  concerted  that  one  place 


100  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

after  another  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards  ;  and  at 
last,  when  the  Union  broke  up,  the  greater  part  of  the 
country  was  in  the  possession  of  Spain.  The  Spanish 
general,  Corduba,  who  commanded  these  troops  after  the 
recall  of  Spinola,  hastily  raised  the  siege  of  Frankenthal, 
when  Mansfeld  entered  the  Lower  Palatinate.  But 
instead  of  driving  the  Spaniards  out  of  this  province,  he 
hastened  across  the  Rhine  to  secure  for  his  needy  troops 
shelter  and  subsistence  in  Alsace.  The  open  countries 
on  which  this  swarm  of  maurauders  threw  themselves 
were  converted  into  frightful  deserts,  and  only  by  enor- 
mous contributions  could  the  cities  purchase  an  exemption 
from  plunder.  Reinforced  by  this  expedition,  Mansfeld 
again  appeared  on  the  Rhine  to  cover  the  Lower  Pala- 
tinate. 

So  long  as  such  an  arm  fought  for  him  the  cause  of  the 
Elector  Frederick  was  not  irretrievably  lost.  Xew 
prospects  began  to  open,  and  misfortune  raised  up  friends 
who  had  been  silent  during  his  prosperity.  King  James 
of  England,  who  had  looked  on  with  indifference  while 
his  son-in-law  lost  the  Bohemian  crown,  was  aroused  from 
his  insensibility  when  the  very  existence  of  his  daughter 
and  grandson  was  at  stake,  and  the  victorious  enemy 
ventured  an  attack  upon  the  Electorate.  Late  enough, 
he  at  last  opened  his  treasures,  and  hastened  to  afford 
supplies  of  money  and  troops,  first  to  the  L^nion,  which 
at  that  time  was  defending  the  Lower  Palatinate, 
and  afterwards,  when  they  retired,  to  Count  Mansfeld. 
By  his  means  his  near  relation,  Christian,  King  of  Den- 
mark, was  induced  to  afford  his  active  support.  At  the 
same  time,  the  approaching  expiration  of  the  truce 
between  Spain  and  Holland  deprived  the  Emperor  of  all 
the  supplies  which  otherwise  he  might  expect  from  the 
side  of  the  Netherlands.  More  important  still  was  the 
assistance  which  the  Palatinate  received  from  Transyl- 
vania and  Hungary.  The  cessation  of  hostilities  between 
Gabor  and  the  Emperor  was  scarcely  at  an  end,  when 
this  old  and  formidable  enemy  of  Austria  overran  Hun- 
gary anew,  and  caused  himself  to  be  crowned  king  in 
Presburg.  So  rapid  was  his  progress  that,  to  protect 
Austria  and  Hungary,  Boucquoi  was  obliged  to  evacuate 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  101 

Bohemia.  This  brave  general  met  his  death  at  the  siege 
of  Neuhausel,  as,  shortly  before,  the  no  less  valiant 
Dampierre  had  fallen  before  Presburg.  Gabor's  march 
into  the  Austrian  territory  was  irresistible ;  the  old 
Count  Thurn,  and  several  other  distinguished  Bohemians, 
had  united  their  hatred  and  their  strength  with  this 
irreconcilable  enemy  of  Austria.  A  vigorous  attack  on 
the  side  of  Germany,  while  Gabor  pressed  the  Emperor 
on  that  of  Hungary,  might  have  retrieved  the  fortunes  of 
Frederick ;  but,  unfortunately,  the  Bohemians  and  Ger- 
mans had  always  laid  down  their  arms  when  Gabor  took 
the  field  ;  and  the  latter  was  always  exhausted  at  the  very 
moment  that  the  former  began  to  recover  their  vigor. 

Meanwhile  Frederick  had  not  delayed  to  join  his  pro- 
tector, Mansfeld.  In  disguise  he  entered  the  Lower  Pala- 
tinate, of  which  the  possession  was  at  that  time  disputed 
betwen  Mansfeld  and  the  Bavarian  general,  Tilly,  the 
Upper  Palatinate  having  been  long  conquered.  A  ray  of 
hope  shone  upon  him  as,  from  the  wreck  of  the  Union, 
new  friends  came  forward.  A  former  member  of  the 
Union,  George  Frederick,  Margrave  of  Baden,  had  for 
some  time  been  engaged  in  assembling  a  military  force, 
which  soon  amounted  to  a  considerable  army.  Its  des- 
tination was  kept  a  .secret  till  he  suddenly  took  the 
field  and  joined  Mansfeld.  Before  commencing  the  war, 
he  resigned  his  Margravate  to  his  son,  in  the  hope  of 
eluding,  by  this  precaution,  the  Emperor's  revenge,  if  his 
enterprise  should  be  unsuccessful.  His  neighbor,  the 
Duke  of  Wirtemberg,  likewise  began  to  augment  his 
military  force.  The  courage  of  the  Palatine  revived, 
and  he  labored  assiduously  to  renew  the  Protestant 
Union.  It  was  now  time  for  Tilly  to  consult  for  his  own 
safety,  and  he  hastily  summoned  the  Spanish  troops, 
under  Corduba,  to  his  assistance.  But  while  the  enemy 
was  uniting  his  strength,  Mansfeld  and  the  Margrave 
separated,  and  the  latter  was  defeated  by  the  Bavarian 
general  near  Wimpfen  (1622). 

To  defend  a  king  whom  his  nearest  relation  persecuted, 
and  who  was  deserted  even  by  his  own  father-in-law, 
there  had  come  forward  an  adventurer  without  money, 
and  whose  very  legitimacy  was  questioned.  A  sovereign 


102  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

had  resigned  possessions  over  which  he  reigned  in  peace 
to  hazard  the  uncertain  fortune  of  war  in  behalf  of  a 
stranger.  And  now  another  soldier  of  fortune,  poor  in 
territorial  possessions,  but  rich  in  illustrious  ancestry, 
undertook  the  defence  of  a  cause  which  the  former  des- 
paired of.  Christian,  Duke  of  Brunswick,  administrator 
of  Halberstadt,  seemed  to  have  learnt  from  Count  Mans- 
feld  the  secret  of  keeping  in  the  field  an  army  of  twenty 
thousand  men  without  money.  Impelled  by  youthful  pre- 
sumption, and  influenced  partly  by  the  wish  of  establish- 
ing his  reputation  at  the  expense  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
priesthood,  whom  he  cordially  detested,  and  partly  by 
a  thirst  for  plunder,  he  assembled  a  considerable  army  in 
Lower  Saxony,  under  the  pretext  of  espousing  the  defence 
of  Frederick,  and  of  the  liberties  of  Germany.  "  God's 
Friend,  Priests'  Foe,"  was  the  motto  he  chose  for  his 
coinage,  which  was  struck  out  of  church  plate ;  and  his 
conduct  belied  one-half  at  least  of  the  device. 

The  progress  of  these  banditti  was,  as  usual,  marked 
by  the  most  frightful  devastation.  Enriched  by  the 
spoils  of  the  chapters  of  Lower  Saxony  and  Westphalia, 
they  gathered  strength  to  plunder  the  bishoprics  upon 
the  LTpper  Rhine.  Driven  from  thence,  both  by  friends 
and  foes,  the  Administrator  approached  the  town  of 
Hoechst  on  the  Maine,  which  he  crossed  after  a  murderous 
action  with  Tilly,  who  disputed  with  him  the  passage  of 
the  river.  With  the  loss  of  half  his  army  he  reached  the 
opposite  bank,  where  he  quickly  collected  his  shattered 
troops,  and  formed  a  junction  with  Mansfeld.  Pursued 
by  Tilly,  this  united  host  threw  itself  again  into  Alsace, 
to  repeat  their  former  ravages.  While  the  Elector  Fred- 
erick followed,  almost  like  a  fugitive  mendicant,  this 
swarm  of  plunderers,  which  acknowledged  him  as  its  lord, 
and  dignified  itself  with  his  name,  his  friends  .were 
busily  endeavoring  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between 
him  and  the  Emperor.  Ferdinand  took  care  not  to 
deprive  them  of  all  hope  of  seeing  the  Palatine  restored 
to  his  dominion.  Full  of  artifice  and  dissimulation,  he 
pretended  to  be  willing  to  enter  into  a  negotiation,  hoping 
thereby  to  cool  their  ardor  in  the  field,  and  to  prevent 
them  from  driving  matters  to  extremity.  James  I.,  ever 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAK.  103 

the  dupe  of  Spanish  cunning,  contributed  not  a  little,  by 
his  foolish  intermeddling,  to  promote  the  Emperor's 
schemes.  Ferdinand  insisted  that  Frederick,  if  he  would 
appeal  to  his  clemency,  should,  first  of  all,  lay  down  his 
arms,  and  James  considered  this  demand  extremely 
reasonable.  At  his  instigation  the  Elector  dismissed 
his  only  real  defenders,  Count  Mansfeld  and  the  Adminis- 
trator, and  in  Holland  awaited  his  own  fate  from  the 
mercy  of  the  Emperor. 

Mansfeld  and  Duke  Christian  were  now  at  a  loss  for 
some  new  name ;  the  cause  of  the  Elector  had  not  set 
them  in  motion,  so  his  dismissal  could  not  disarm  them. 
War  was  their  object ;  it  was  all  the  same  to  them  in 
whose  cause  or  name  it  was  waged.  After  some  vain 
attempts  on  the  part  of  Mansfeld  to  be  received  into  the 
Emperor's  service,  both  marched  into  Lorraine,  where 
the  excesses  of  their  troops  spread  terror  even  to  the 
heart  of  France.  Here  they  long  waited  in  vain  for  a 
master  willing  to  purchase  their  services  ;  till  the  Dutch, 
pressed  by  the  Spanish  General  Spinola,  offered  to  take 
them  into  pay.  After  a  bloody  fight  at  Fleurus  with 
the  Spaniards,  who  attempted  to  intercept  them,  they 
reached  Holland,  where  their  appearance  compelled  the 
Spanish  general  forthwith  to  raise  the  siege  of  Bergen- 
op-Zoom.  But  even  Holland  was  soon  weary  of  these 
dangerous  guests,  and  availed  herself  of  the  first  moment 
to  get  rid  of  their  unwelcome  assistance.  Mansfeld 
allowed  his  troops  to  recruit  themselves  for  new  enter- 
prises in  the  fertile  province  of  East  Friezeland.  Duke 
Christian,  passionately  enamoured  of  the  Electress  Pala- 
tine, with  whom  he  had  become  acquainted  in  Holland, 
and  more  disposed  for  war  than  ever,  led  back  his  army 
into  Lower  Saxony,  bearing  that  princess's  glove  in  his 
hat,  and  on  his  standards  the  motto,  "  All  for  God  and 
Her."  Neither  of  these  adventurers  had  as  yet  run  their 
career  in  this  war. 

All  the  imperial  territories  were  now  free  from  the 
enemy ;  the  Union  was  dissolved ;  the  Margrave  of 
Baden,  Duke  Christian,  and  Mansfeld  driven  from  the 
field,  and  the  Palatinate  overrun  by  the  executive  troops 
of  the  empire.  Manheim  and  Heidelberg  were  in  possession 


104  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

of  Bavaria,  and  Frankenthal  was  shortly  afterwards  ceded 
to  the  Spaniards.  The  Palatine,  in  a  distant  corner  of 
Holland,  awaited  the  disgraceful  permission  to  appease, 
by  abject  submission,  the  vengeance  of  the  Emperor; 
and  an  Electoral  Diet  was  at  last  summoned  to  decide 
his  fate.  That  fate,  however,  had  been  long  before 
decided  at  the  court  of  the  Emperor ;  though  now,  for 
the  first  time,  were  circumstances  favorable  for  giving 
publicity  to  the  decision.  After  his  past  measures 
towards  the  Elector,  Ferdinand  believed  that  a  sincere 
reconciliation  was  not  to  be  hoped  for.  The  violent 
course  he  had  once  begun  must  be  completed  sucessfully, 
or  recoil  upon  himself.  What  was  already  lost  was 
irrecoverable ;  Frederick  could  never  hope  to  regain  his 
dominions ;  and  a  prince  without  territory  and  without 
subjects  had  little  chance  of  retaining  the  electoral  crown. 
Deeply  as  the  Palatine  had  offended  against  the  House 
of  Austria,  the  services  of  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  were  no 
less  meritorious.  If  the  House  of  Austria  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  had  much  to  dread  from  the  resentment 
and  religious  rancor  of  the  Palatine  family,  they  had  as 
much  to  hope  from  the  gratitude  and  religious  zeal  of 
the  Bavarian.  Lastly,  by  the  cession  of  the  Palatine 
Electorate  to  Bavaria,  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  would 
obtain  a  decisive  preponderance  in  the  Electoral  College, 
and  secure  a  permanent  triumph  in  Germany. 

The  last  circumstance  was  sufficient  to  win  the  support 
of  the  three  Ecclesiastical  Electors  to  this  innovation ; 
and  among  the  Protestants  the  vote  of  Saxony  was  alone 
of  any  importance.  But  could  John  George  be  expected 
to  dispute  with  the  Emperor  a  right,  without  which  he 
would  expose  to  question  his  own  title  to  the  electoral 
dignity?  To  a  prince  whom  descent,  dignity,  and 
political  power  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Protestant 
church  in  Germany,  nothing,  it  is  true,  ought  to  be  more 
sacred  than  the  defence  of  the  rights  of  that  church 
against  all  the  encroachments  of  the  Roman  Catholics. 
But  the  question  here  was  not  whether  the  interests  of 
the  Protestants  were  to  be  supported  against  the  Roman 
Catholics,  but  which  of  two  religions  equally  detested, 
the  Calvinistic  and  the  Popish,  was  to  triumph  over  the 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  105 

other ;  to  which  of  the  two  enemies,  equally  dangerous, 
the  Palatinate  was  to  be  assigned  ;  and  in  this  clashing 
of  opposite  duties,  it  was  natural  that  private  hate  and 
private  gain  should  determine  the  event.  The  born 
protector  of  the  liberties  of  Germany,  and  of  the  Prot- 
estant religion,  encouraged  the  Emperor  to  dispose  of  the 
Palatinate  by  his  imperial  prerogative  ;  and  to  apprehend 
no  resistance  on  the  part  of  Saxony  to  his  measures  on 
the  mere  ground  of  form.  If  the  Elector  was  afterwards 
disposed  to  retract  this  consent,  Ferdinand  himself,  by 
driving  the  Evangelical  preachers  from  Bohemia,  was  the 
cause  of  this  change  of  opinion;  and,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Elector,  the  transference  of  the  Palatine  Electorate  to 
Bavaria  ceased  to  be  illegal  as  soon  as  Ferdinand  was 
prevailed  upon  to  cede  Lusatia  to  Saxony,  in  consideration 
of  six  millions  of  dollars,  as  the  expenses  of  the  war. 

Thus,  in  defiance  of  all  Protestant  Germany,  and  in 
mockery  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  empire,  which, 
at  his  election,  he  had  sworn  to  maintain,  Ferdinand  at 
Ratisbon  solemnly  invested  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  with  the 
Palatinate,  without  prejudice,  as  the  form  ran,  to  the 
rights  which  the  relations  or  descendants  of  Frederick 
might  afterwards  establish.  That  unfortunate  prince 
thus  saw  himself  irrevocably  driven  from  his  possessions, 
without  having  been  even  heard  before  the  tribunal  which 
condemned  him  —  a  privilege  which  the  law  allows  to  the 
meanest  subject,  and  even  to  the  most  atrocious  criminal. 

This  violent  step  at  last  opened  the  eyes  of  the  King 
of  England  ;  and  as  the  negotiations  for  the  marriage  of 
his  son  with  the  Infanta  of  Spain  were  now  broken  off, 
James  began  seriously  to  espouse  the  cause  of  his  son-in- 
law.  A  change  in  the  French  ministry  had  placed  Cardi- 
nal Richelieu  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and  this  fallen 
kingdom  soon  began  to  feel  that  a  great  mind  was  at  the 
helm  of  state.  The  attempts  of  the  Spanish  Viceroy  in 
Milan  to  gain  possession  of  the  Valtelline,  and  thus  to 
form  a  junction  with  the  Austrian  hereditary  dominions, 
revived  the  olden  dread  of  this  power,  and  with  it  the 
policy  of  Henry  the  Great.  The  marriage  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales  with  Henrietta  of  France  established  a  close 
union  between  the  two  crowns;  and  to  this  alliance, 


106  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

Holland,  Denmark,  and  some  of  the  Italian  states  presently 
acceded.  Its  object  was  to  expel,  by  force  of  arms, 
Spain  from  the  Valtelline.  and  to  compel  Austria  to 
reinstate  Frederick ;  but  only  the  first  of  these  designs 
was  prosecuted  with  vigor.  James  I.  died,  and  Charles 
I.,  involved  in  disputes  with  his  Parliament,  could  not 
bestow  attention  on  the  affairs  of  Germany.  Savoy  and 
Venice  withheld  their  assistance ;  and  the  French  min- 
ister thought  it  necessary  to  subdue  the  Huguenots  at 
home  before  he  supported  the  German  Protestants 
against  the  Emperor.  Great  as  were  the  hopes  which 
had  been  formed  from  this  alliance,  they  were  yet  equalled 
by  the  disappointment  of  the  event. 

Mansfeld,  deprived  of  all  support,  remained  inactive  on 
the  Lower  Rhine;  and  Duke  Christian  of  Brunswick, 
after  an  unsuccessful  campaign,  was  a  second  time  driven 
out  of  Germany.  A  fresh  irruption  of  Bethlen  Gabor 
into  Moravia,  frustrated  by  the  want  of  support  from  the 
Germans,  terminated,  like  all  the  rest,  in  a  formal  peace 
with  the  Emperor.  The  Union  was  no  more ;  no  Prot- 
estant prince  was  in  arms  ;  and  on  the  frontiers  of  Lower 
Germany,  the  Bavarian  General  Tilly,  at  the  head  of  a 
victorious  army,  encamped  in  the  Protestant  territory. 
The  movements  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  had  drawn 
him  into  this  quarter,  and  even  into  the  circle  of  Lower 
Saxony,  when  he  made  himself  master  of  the  Adminis- 
trator's magazines  at  Lippstadt.  The  necessity  of  observ- 
ing this  enemy,  and  preventing  him  from  new  inroads, 
was  the  pretext  assigned  for  continuing  Tilly's  stay  in 
the  country.  But,  in  truth,  both  Mansfeld  and  Duke 
Christian  had,  from  want  of  money,  disbanded  their 
armies,  and  Count  Tilly  had  no  enemy  to  dread.  Why, 
then,  still  burden  the  country  with  his  presence? 

It  is  difficult,  amidst  the  uproar  of  contending  parties, 
to  distinguish  the  voice  of  truth  ;  but  certainly  it  was 
matter  for  alarm  that  the  League  did  not  lay  down  its 
arms.  The  premature  rejoicings  of  the  Roman  Catholics, 
too,  were  calculated  to  increase  apprehension.  The 
Emperor  and  the  League  stood  armed  and  victorious  in 
Germany  without  a  power  to  oppose  them,  should  they 
venture  to  attack  the  Protestant  states  and  to  annul  the 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  107 

religious  treaty.  Had  Ferdinand  been  in  reality  far 
from  disposed  to  abuse  his  conquests,  still  the  defence- 
less position  of  the  Protestants  was  most  likely  to  sug- 
gest the  temptation.  Obsolete  conventions  could  not 
bind  a  prince  who  thought  that  he  owed  all  to  religion, 
and  believed  that  a  religious  creed  would  sanctify  any 
deed,  however  violent.  Upper  Germany  was  already 
overpowered.  Lower  Germany  alone  could  check  his 
despotic  authority.  Here  the  Protestants  still  predomi- 
nated ;  the  church  had  been  forcibly  deprived  of  most  of 
its  endowments ;  and  the  present  appeared  a  favorable 
moment  for  recovering  these  lost  possessions.  A  great 
part  of  the  strength  of  the  Lower  German  princes  con- 
sisted in  these  Chapters,  and  the  plea  of  restoring  its 
own  to  the  church  afforded  an  excellent  pretext  for 
weakening  these  princes. 

Unpardonable  would  have  been  their  negligence  had 
they  remained  inactive  in  this  danger.  The  remem- 
brance of  the  ravages  which  Tilly's  army  had  committed 
in  Lower  Saxony  was  too  recent  not  to  arouse  the 
Estates  to  measures  of  defence.  With  all  haste  the 
circle  of  Lower  Saxony  began  to  arm  itself.  Extraor- 
dinary contributions  were  levied,  troops  collected,  and 
magazines  filled.  Negotiations  for  subsidies  were  set  on 
foot  with  Venice,  Holland,  and  England.  They  deliber- 
ated, too,  what  power  should  be  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  confederacy.  The  kings  of  the  Sound  and  the  Baltic, 
the  natural  allies  of  this  circle,  would  not  see  with  indif- 
ference the  Emperor  treating  it  as  a  conqueror,  and 
establishing  himself  as  their  neighbor  on  the  shores  of  the 
North  Sea.  The  twofold  interests  of  religion  and  policy 
urged  them  to  put  a  stop  to  his  progress  in  Lower  Ger- 
many. Christian  IV.,  of  Denmark,  as  Duke  of  Holstein, 
was  himself  a  prince  of  this  circle,  and  by  considerations 
equally  powerful  Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Sweden  was 
induced  to  join  the  confederacy. 

These  two  kings  vied  with  each  other  for  the  honor  of 
defending  Lower  Saxony,  and  of  opposing  the  formidable 
power  of  Austria.  Each  offered  to  raise  a  well-disciplined 
army,  and  to  lead  it  in  person.  His  victorious  campaigns 
against  Moscow  and  Poland  gave  weight  to  the  promises 


108.  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

of  the  King  of  Sweden.  The  shores  of  the  Baltic  were 
full  of  the  name  of  Gustavus.  But  the  fame  of  his  rival 
excited  the  envy  of  the  Danish  monarch ;  and  the  more 
success  he  promised  himself  in  this  campaign  the  less 
disposed  was  he  to  show  any  favor  to  his  envied  neigh- 
bor. Both  laid  their  conditions  and  plans  before  the 
English  ministry,  and  Christian  IV.  finally  succeeded  in 
outbidding  his  rival.  Gustavus  Adolphus,  for  his  own 
security,  had  demanded  the  cession  of  some  places  of 
strength  in  Germany,  where  he  himself  had  no  territorial 
to  afford,  in  case  of  need,  a  place  of  refuge  for  his  troops. 
Christian  IV.  possessed  Holstein  and  Jutland,  through 
which,  in  the  event  of  a  defeat,  he  could  always  secure  a 
retreat. 

Eager  to  get  the  start  of  his  competitor,  the  King  of 
Denmark  hastened  to  take  the  field.  Appointed  general- 
issimo of  the  circle  of  Lower  Saxony,  he  soon  had  an 
army  of  sixty  thousand  men  in  motion ;  the  administrator 
of  Magdeburg,  and  the  Dukes  of  Brunswick  and  Meck- 
lenburgh  entered  into  an  alliance  with  him.  Encouraged 
by  the  hope  of  assistance  from  England,  and  the  posses- 
sion of  so  large  a  force,  he  flattered  himself  he  should  be 
able  to  terminate  the  war  in  a  single  campaign. 

At  Vienna  it  was  officially  notified  that  the  only  object 
of  these  preparations  was  the  protection  of  the  circle,  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  peace.  But  the  negotiations  with 
Holland,  England,  and  even  France,  the  extraordinary 
exertions  of  the  circle,  and  the  raising  of  so  formidable 
an  army,  seemed  to  have  something  more  in  view  than 
defensive  operations,  and  to  contemplate  nothing  less  than 
the  complete  restoration  of  the  Elector  Palatine,  and  the 
humiliation  of  the  dreaded  power  of  Austria. 

After  negotiations,  exhortations,  commands,  and  threats 
had  in  vain  been  employed  by  the  Emperor  in  order  to 
induce  the  King  of  Denmark  and  the  circle  of  Lower 
Saxony  to  lay  down  their  arms,  hostilities  commenced, 
and  Lower  Germany  became  the  theatre  of  war.  Count 
Tilly,  marching  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Weser, 
made  himself  master  of  all  the  passes  as  far  as  Minden. 
After  an  unsuccessful  attack  on  Nieuburg,  he  crossed  the 
river  and  overran  the  principality  of  Calemberg,  in  which 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  109 

he  quartered  his  troops.  The  king  conducted  his  oper- 
ations on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and  spread  his 
forces  over  the  territories  of  Brunswick,  but  having 
weakened  his  main  body  by  too  powerful  detachments, 
he  could  not  engage  in  any  enterprise  of  importance. 
Aware  of  his  opponent's  superiority,  he  avoided  a  decisive 
action  as  anxiously  as  the  general  of  the  League  sought  it. 

With  the  exception  of  the  troops  from  the  Spanish 
Netherlands,  which  had  poured  into  the  Lower  Palatinate, 
the  Emperor  had  hitherto  made  use  only  of  the  arms  of 
Bavaria  and  the  League  in  Germany.  Maximilian  con- 
ducted the  war  as  executor  of  the  ban  of  the  empire,  and 
Tilly,  who  commanded  the  army  of  execution,  was  in  the 
Bavarian  service.  The  Emperor  owed  superiority  in  the 
field  to  Bavaria  and  the  League,  and  his  fortunes  were  in 
their  hands.  This  dependence  on  their  good-will  but  ill 
accorded  with  the  grand  schemes  which  the  brilliant 
commenceimnt  of  the  war  had  led  the  imperial  cabinet 
to  form. 

However  active  the  League  had  shown  itself  in  the 
Emperior's  defence,  while  thereby  it  secured  its  own 
welfare,  it  could  not  be  expected  that  it  would  enter  as 
readily  into  his  views  of  conquest.  Or,  if  they  still  con- 
tinued to  lend  their  armies  for  that  purpose,  is  was  too 
much  to  be  feared  that  they  would  share  with  the  Em- 
peror nothing  but  general  odium,  while  they  appropriated 
to  themselves  all  advantages.  A  strong  army  under  his 
own  orders  could  alone  free  him  from  this  debasing  de- 
pendence upon  Bavaria,  and  restore  to  him  his  former 
pre-eminence  in  Germany.  But  the  war  had  already  ex- 
hausted the  imperial  dominions,  and  they  were  unequal 
to  the  expense  of  such  an  armament.  In  these  circum- 
stances nothing  could  be  more  welcome  to  the  Emperor 
than  the  proposal  with  which  one  of  his  officers  surprised 
him. 

This  was  Count  Wallenstein,  an  experienced  officer, 
and  the  richest  nobleman  in  Bohemia.  From  his  earliest 
youth  he  had  been  in  the  service  of  the  House  of  Austria, 
and  several  campaigns  against  the  Turks,  Venetians, 
Bohemians,  Hungarians,  and  Transylvanians  had  estab- 
lished his  reputation.  He  was  present  as  colonel  at  the 


110  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

battle  of  Prague,  and  afterwards,  as  major-general,  had 
defeated  a  Hungarian  force  in  Moravia.  The  Emperor's 
gratitude  was  equal  to  his  services,  and  a  large  share  of 
the  confiscated  estates  of  the  Bohemian  insurgents  was 
their  reward.  Possessed  of  immense  property,  excited  by 
ambitious  views,  confident  in  his  own  good  fortune,  and 
still  more  encouraged  by  the  existing  state  of  circum- 
stances, he  offered,  at  his  own  expense  and  that  of  his 
friends,  to  raise  and  clothe  an  army  for  the  Emperor,  and 
even  undertook  the  cost  of  maintaining  it,  if  he  were 
allowed  to  augment  it  to  fifty  thousand  men.  The  project 
was  universally  ridiculed  as  the  chimerical  offspring  of  a 
visionary  brain  ;  but  the  offer  was  highly  valuable,  if  its 
promises  should  be  but  partially  fulfilled.  Certain  circles 
in  Bohemia  were  assigned  to  him  as  depots,  with  au- 
thority to  appoint  his  own  officers.  In  a  few  months  he 
had  twenty  thousand  men  under  arms,  with  which,  quit- 
ting the  Austrian  territories,  he  soon  afterwards  appeared 
on  the  frontiers  of  Lower  Saxony  with  thirty  thousand. 
The  Emperor  had  lent  this  armament  nothing  but  his 
name.  The  reputation  of  the  general,  the  prospect  of 
rapid  promotion,  and  the  hope  of  plunder,  attracted  to 
his  standard  adventurers  from  all  quarters  of  Germany  ; 
and  even  sovereign  princes,  stimulated  by  the  desire  of 
glory  or  of  gain,  offered  to  raise  regiments  for  the  service 
of  Austria. 

Now,  therefore,  for  the  first  time  in  this  war,  an  impe- 
rial army  appeared  in  Germany  ;  an  event  which,  if  it  was 
menacing  to  the  Protestants,  was  scarcely  more  accept- 
able to  the  Catholics.  Wallenstein  had  orders  to  unite 
his  army  with  the  troops  of  the  League,  and  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  Bavarian  general  to  attack  the  King  of 
Denmark.  Bat,  long  jealous  of  Tilly's  fame,  he  showed 
no  disposition  to  share  with  him  the  laurels  of  the  cam- 
paign or  in  the  splendors  of  his  rival's  achievements  to 
dim  the  lustre  of  his  own.  His  plan  of  operations  was  to 
support  the  latter,  but  to  act  entirely  independently  of 
him.  As  he  had  not  resources,  like  Tilly,  for  supplying 
the  wants  of  his  army,  he  was  obliged  to  march  his  troops 
into  fertile  countries  which  had  not  as  yet  suffered  from 
war.  Disobeying,  therefore,  the  order  to  form  a  June- 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    AVAR.  Ill 

tion  with  the  general  of  the  League,  he  inarched  into 
the  territories  of  Halberstadt  and  Magdeburg,  and  at 
Dessau  made  himself  master  of  the  Elbe.  All  the  lands 
on  either  bank  of  this  river  were  at  his  command,  and 
from  them  he  could  either  attack  the  King  of  Denmark 
in  the  rear,  or,  if  prudent,  enter  the  territories  of  that 
prince. 

Christian  IV.  was  fully  aware  of  the  danger  of  his  situa- 
tion between  two  such  powerful  armies.  He  had  already 
been  joined  by  the  administrator  of  Halberstadt,  who 
had  lately  returned  from  Holland  ;  he  now  also  acknowl- 
edged Mansfeld,  whom  previously  he  had  refused  to 
recognize,  and  supported  him  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 
Mansfeld  amply  requited  this  service.  He  alone  kept 
at  bay  the  army  of  Wallenstein  upon  the  Elbe,  and  pre- 
vented its  junction  with  that  of  Tilly,  and  a  combined 
attack  on  the  King  of  Denmark.  Notwithstanding  the 
enemy's  superiority,  this  intrepid  general  even  ap- 
proached the  bridge  of  Dessau  and  ventured  to  entrench 
himself  in  the  presence  of  the  imperial  lines.  But 
attacked  in  the  rear  by  the  whole  force  of  the  Imperial- 
ists, he  was  obliged  to  yield  to  superior  numbers,  and  to 
abandon  his  post  with  the  loss  of  three  thousand  killed. 
After  this  defeat  Mansfeld  withdrew  into  Brandenburg, 
where  he  soon  recruited  and  reinforced  his  army,  and 
suddenly  turned  into  Silesia,  with  the  view  of  marching 
from  thence  into  Hungary,  and,  in  conjunction  with 
Bethlen  Gabor,  carrying  the  war  into  the  heart  of  Aus- 
tria. As  the  Austrian  dominions  in  that  quarter  were 
entirely  defenceless,  Wallenstein  received  immediate 
orders  to  leave  the  King  of  Denmark,  and  if  possible  to 
intercept  Mansfeld's  progress  through  Silesia. 

The  diversion  which  this  movement  of  Mansfeld  had 
made  in  the  plans  of  Wallenstein  enabled  the  king  to 
detach  a  part  of  his  force  into  Westphalia,  to  seize  the 
bishoprics  of  Munster  and  Osnaburg.  To  check  this 
movement,  Tilly  suddenly  moved  from  theWeser;  but 
the  operations  of  Duke  Christian,  who  threatened  the 
territories  of  the  League  with  an  inroad  in  the  direction 
of  Hesse,  and  to  remove  thither  the  seat  of  war,  recalled 
him  as  rapidly  from  Westphalia.  In  order  to  keep  open 


112  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

his  communications  with  these  provinces,  and  to  prevent 
the  junction  of  the  enemy  with  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse, 
Tilly  hastily  seized  all  the  tenable  posts  on  the  Werha 
and  Fulda,  and  took  up  a  strong  position  in  Minden,  at 
the  foot  of  the  Hessian  Mountains,  and  at  the  confluence 
of  these  rivers  with  the  Weser.  He  soon  made  himself 
master  of  Gottingen,  the  key  of  Brunswick  and  Hesse, 
and  was  meditating  a  similar  attack  upon  Nordheim, 
when  the  king  advanced  upon  him  with  his  whole  army. 
After  throwing  into  this  place  the  necessary  supplies  for 
a  long  siege,  the  latter  attempted  to  open  a  new  passage 
through  Eichsfield  and  Thuringia  into  the  territories  of 
the  League.  He  had  already  reached  Dnnderstadt  when 
Tilly,  by  forced  marches,  came  up  with  him.  As  the 
army  of  Tilly,  which  had  been  reinforced  by  some  of 
Wallenstein's  regiments,  was  superior  in  numbers  to  his 
own,  the  king,  in  order  to  avoid  a  battle,  retreated 
towards  Brunswick.  But  Tilly  incessantly  harassed  his 
retreat,  and  after  three  days'  skirmishing  he  was  at 
length  obliged  to  await  the  enemy  near  the  village  of 
Lutter  in  Barenberg.  The  Danes  began  the  attack  with 
great  bravery,  and  thrice  did  their  intrepid  monarch  lead 
them  in  person  against  the  enemy  ;  but  at  length  the 
superior  numbers  and  discipline  of  the  Imperialists  pre- 
vailed, and  the  general  of  the  League  obtained  a  com- 
plete victory.  The  Danes  lost  sixty  standards  and  their 
whole  artillery,  baggage,  and  ammunition.  Several  offi- 
cers of  distinction  and  about  four  thousand  men  were 
killed  in  the  field  of  battle,  and  several  companies  of 
foot  in  the  flight,  who  had  thrown  themselves  into  the 
town-house  of  Lutter,  laid  down  their  arms  and  surren- 
dered to  the  conqueror. 

The  king  fled  with  his  cavalry  and  soon  collected  the 
wreck  of  his  army  which  had  survived  this  serious 
defeat.  Tilly  pursued  his  victory,  made  himself  master 
of  the  Weser  and  Brunswick,  and  forced  the  king  to 
retire  into  Bremen.  Rendered  more  cautious  by  defeat, 
the  latter  now  stood  upon  the  defensive,  and  determined 
at  all  events  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  crossing  the 
Elbe.  But  while  he  threw  garrisons  into  every  tenable 
place,  he  reduced  his  own  diminished  army  to  inactivity; 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  113 

and  one  after  another  his  scattered  troops  were  either 
defeated  or  dispersed.  The  forces  of  the  League  in 
command  of  the  Weser  spread  themselves  along  the  Elbe 
and  Havel,  and  everywhere  drove  the  Danes  before 
them.  Tilly,  himself  ci-ossing  the  Elbe,  penetrated  with 
his  victorious  army  into  Brandenburg,  while  Wallenstein 
entered  Holstein  to  remove  the  seat  of  war  to  the  king's 
own  dominions. 

This  general  had  just  returned  from  Hungary,  whither 
he  had  pursued  Mansfeld,  without  being  able  to  obstruct 
his  march  or  prevent  his  junction  with  Bethlen  Gabor. 
Constantly  persecuted  by  fortune,  but  always  superior  to 
his  fate,  Mansfeld  had  made  his  way  against  countless 
difficulties  through  Silesia  and  Hungary  to  Transylvania, 
where,  after  all,  he  was  not  very  welcome.  Relying  upon 
the  assistance  of  England,  and  a  powerful  diversion  in 
Lower  Saxony,  Gabor  had  again  broken  the  truce  with 
the  Emperor.  But  in  place  of  the  expected  diversion  in 
his  favor,  Mansfeld  had  drawn  upon  himself  the  whole 
strength  of  Wallenstein,  and  instead  of  bringing,  re- 
quired pecuniary  assistance.  The  want  of  concert  in  the 
Protestant  counsels  cooled  Gabor's  ardor ;  and  he  has- 
tened, as  usual,  to  avert  the  coming  storm  by  a  speedy 
peace.  Firmly  determined,  however,  to  break  it,  with 
the  first  ray  of  hope,  he  directed  Mansfeld  in  the  mean- 
time to  apply  for  assistance  to  Venice. 

Cut  off  from  Germany,  and  unable  to  support  the 
weak  remnant  of  his  troops  in  Hungary,  Mansfeld  sold 
his  artillery  and  baggage  train  and  disbanded  his  soldiers. 
With  a  few  followers  he  proceeded  through  Bosnia  and 
Dalmatia  towards  Venice.  New  schemes  swelled  his 
bosom ;  but  his  career  was  ended.  Fate,  which  had  so 
restlessly  sported  with  him  throughout,  now  prepared 
for  him  a  peaceful  grave  in  Dalmatia.  Death  overtook 
him  in  the  vicinity  of  Zara  in  1626 ;  and  a  short  time 
before  him  died  the  faithful  companion  of  his  fortunes, 
Christian,  Duke  of  Brunswick  —  two  men  worthy  of 
immortality  had  they  but  been  as  superior  to  their  times 
as  they  were  to  their  adversities. 

The  King  of  Denmark,  with  his  whole  army,  was 
unable  to  cope  with  Tilly  alone ;  much  less,  therefore, 


114  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

with  a  shattered  force  could  he  hold  his  ground  against 
the  two  imperial  generals.  The  Danes  retired  from  all 
their  posts  on  the  Weser,  the  Elbe,  and  the  Havel,  and 
the  array  of  Wallenstein  poured  like  a  torrent  into 
Brandenburg,  Mecklenburgh,  Holstein,  and  Sleswick. 
That  general,  too  proud  to  act  in  conjunction  with 
another,  had  despatched  Tilly  across  the  Elbe  to  watch, 
as  he  gave  out,  the  motions  of  the  Dutch  in  that  quarter, 
but  in  reality  that  he  might  terminate  the  war  against 
the  king,  and  reap  for  himself  the  fruits  of  Tilly's  con- 
quests. Christian  had  now  lost  all  his  fortresses  in  the 
German  States,  with  the  exception  of  Gluckstadt;  his 
armies  were  defeated  or  dispersed  ;  no  assistance  came 
from  Germany ;  from  England  little  consolation*;  while 
his  confederates  in  Lower  Saxony  were  at  the  mercy  of 
the  conqueror.  The  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel  had  been 
forced  by  Tilly,  soon  after  the  battle  of  Lutter,  to  re- 
nounce the  Danish  alliance.  Wallenstein's  formidable 
appearance  before  Berlin  reduced  the  Elector  of  Bran- 
denburg to  submission,  and  compelled  him  to  recognize 
as  legitimate  Maximilian's  title  to  the  Palatine  Elector- 
ate. The  greater  part  of  Mecklenburgh  was  now  overrun 
by  imperial  troops,  and  both  dukes,  as  adherents  of  the 
King  of  Denmark,  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  empire 
and  driven  from  their  dominions.  The  defence  of  the 
German  liberties  against  illegal  encroachments  was  pun- 
ished as  a  crime  deserving  the  loss  of  all  dignities 
and  territories  ;  and  yet  this  was  but  the  prelude  to  the 
still  more  crying  enormities  which  shortly  followed. 

The  secret  how  Wallenstein  had  purposed  to  fulfil  his 
extravagant  designs  was  now  manifest.  He  had  learned 
the  lesson  from  Count  Mansfeld ;  but"  the  scholar  sur- 
passed his  master.  On  the  principle  that  war  must  sup- 
port war,  Mansfeld  and  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  had 
subsisted  their  troops  by  contributions  levied  indis- 
criminately on  friend  and  enemy ;  but  this  predatory  life 
was  attended  with  all  the  inconvenience  and  insecurity 
which  accompany  robbery.  Like  a  fugitive  banditti, 
they  were  obliged  to  steal  through  exasperated  and 
vigilant  enemies  ;  to  roam  from  one  end  of  Germany  to 
another ;  to  watch  their  opportunity  with  anxiety,  and 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  115 

to  abandon  the  most  fertile  territories  whenever  they 
were  defended  by  a  superior  army.  If  Mansfeld  and 
Duke  Christian  had  done  such  great  tilings  in  the  face  of 
these  difficulties,  what  might  not  be  expected  if  the 
obstacles  were  removed;  when  the  army  raised  was 
numerous  enough  to  overawe  in  itself  the  most  powerful 
states  of  the  empire;  when  the  name  of  the  Emperor 
insured  impunity  to  every  outrage  ;  and  when,  under  the 
highest  authority,  and  at  the  head  of  an  overwhelming 
force,  the  same  system  of  warfare  was  pursued  which 
these  two  adventurers  had  adopted  at  their  own  risk, 
and  with  only  an  untrained  multitude  ? 

Wallenstein  had  all  this  in  view  when  he  made  his 
bold  offer  to  the  Emperor,  which  now  seemed  extrava- 
gant to  no  one.  The  more  his  ai'my  was  augmented  the 
less  cause  was  there  to  fear  for  its  subsistence,  because  it 
could  irresistibly  bear  down  on  the  refractory  states ;  the 
more  violent  its  outrages  the  more  probable  was  im- 
punity. Towards  hostile  states  it  had  the  plea  of  right ; 
towards  the  favorably  disposed  it  could  allege  necessity. 
The  inequality,  too,  with  which  it  dealt  out  its  oppres- 
sions prevented  any  dangerous  union  among  the  states, 
while  the  exhaustion  of  their  territories  deprived  them 
of  the  power  of  vengeance.  Thus  the  whole  of  Ger- 
many became  a  kind  of  magazine  for  the  imperial  army, 
and  the  Emperor  was  enabled  to  deal  with  the  other 
states  as  absolutely  as  with  his  own  hereditary  domin- 
ions. Universal  was  the  clamor  for  redress  before  the 
imperial  throne ;  but  there  was  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
revenge  of  the  injured  princes  so  long  as  they  appealed 
for  justice.  The  general  discontent  was  directed  equally 
against  the  Emperor,  who  had  lent  his  name  to  these  bar- 
barities, and  the  general  who  exceeded  his  power  and 
openly  abused  the  authority  of  his  master.  They  ap- 
plied to  the  Emperor  for  protection  against  the  outrages 
of  his  generals,  but  Wallenstein  had  no  sooner  felt  him- 
self absolute  in  the  army  than  he  threw  off  his  obedience 
to  his  sovereign. 

The  exhaustion  of  the  enemy  made  a  speedy  peace 
probable;  yet  Wallenstein  continued  to  augment  the 
imperial  annies  until  they  were  at  least  one  hundred 


116  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

thousand  men  strong.  Numberless  commissions  to  colo- 
nelcies and  inferior  commands,  the  regal  pomp  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  immoderate  largesses  to  his  favor- 
ites (for  he  never  gave  less  than  a  thousand  florins), 
enormous  sums  lavished  in  corrupting  the  court  at 
Vienna  —  all  this  had  been  effected  without  burdening 
the  Emperor.  These  immense  sums  were  raised  by  the 
contributions  levied  from  the  lower  German  provinces, 
where  no  distinction  was  made  between  friend  and  foe ; 
and  the  territories  of  all  princes  were  subjected  to  the 
same  system  of  marching  and  quartering,  of  extortion 
and  outrage.  If  credit  is  to  be  given  to  an  extravagant 
contemporary  statement,  Wallenstein,  during  his  seven 
years  command,  had  exacted  not  less  than  sixty  thousand 
millions  of  dollars  from  one-half  of  Germany.  The 
greater  his  extortions  the  greater  the  rewards  of  his 
soldiers,  and  the  greater  the  concourse  to  his  standard, 
for  the  world  always  follows  fortune.  His  armies  flour- 
ished while  all  the  states  through  which  they  passed 
withered.  What  cared  he  for  the  detestation  of  the 
people  and  the  complaints  of  princes  ?  His  army  adored 
him,  and  the  very  enormity  of  his  guilt  enabled  him  to 
bid  defiance  to  its  consequences. 

It  would  be  unjust  to  Ferdinand  were  we  to  lay  all 
these  irregularities  to  his  charge.  Had  he  foreseen  that 
he  was  abandoning  the  German  states  to  the  mercy  of 
his  officer,  he  would  have  been  sensible  how  dangerous 
to  himself  so  absolute  a  general  would  prove.  The 
closer  the  connection  became  between  the  army  and  the 
leader  from  whom  flowed  favor  and  fortune,  the  more 
the  ties  which  united  both  to  the  Emperor  were  relaxed. 
Everything,  it  is  true,  was  done  in  the  name  of  the 
latter ;  but  Wallenstein  only  availed  himself  of  the  su- 
preme majesty  of  the  Emperor  to  crush  the  authority  of 
other  states.  His  object  was  to  depress  the  princes  of 
the  empire,  to  destroy  all  gradation  of  rank  between 
them  and  the  Emperor,  and  to  elevate  the  power  of  the 
latter  above  all  competition.  If  the  Emperor  was  abso- 
lute in  Germany  who  then  would  be  equal  to  the  man 
entrusted  with  the  execution  of  his  will?  The  height  to 
which  Wallenstein  had  raised  the  imperial  authority 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  117 

astonished  even  the  Emperor  himself ;  but  as  the  great- 
ness of  the  master  was  entirely  the  work  of  the  servant, 
the  creation  of  Wallenstein  would  necessarily  sink  again 
into  nothing  upon  the  withdrawal  of  its  creative  hand. 
Not  without  an  object,  therefore,  did  Wallenstein  labor 
to  poison  the  minds  of  the  German  princes  against  the 
Emperor.  The  more  violent  their  hatred  of  Ferdinand, 
the  more  indispensable  to  the  Emperor  would  become 
the  man  who  alone  could  render  their  ill-will  powerless. 
His  design  unquestionably  was  that  his  sovereign  should 
stand  in  fear  of  no  one  in  all  Germany  besides  himself, 
the  source  and  engine  of  this  despotic  power. 

As  a  step  towards  this  end,  Wallenstein  now  demanded 
the  cession  of  Mecklenburgh,  to  be  held  in  pledge  till  the 
repayment  of  his  advances  for  the  war.  Ferdinand  had 
already  created  him  Duke  of  Friedland,  apparently  with 
the  view  of  exalting  his  own  general  over  Bavaria;  but 
an  ordinary  recompense  would  not  satisfy  Wallenstein's 
ambition.  In  vain  was  this  new  demand,  which  could 
be  granted  only  at  the  expense  of  two  princes  of  the 
empire,  actively  resisted  in  the  Imperial  Council.  In 
vain  did  the  Spaniards,  who  had  long  been  offended  by 
his  pride,  oppose  his  elevation.  The  powerful  support 
which  Wallenstein  had  purchased  from  the  imperial 
councillors  prevailed,  and  Ferdinand  was  determined,  at 
whatever  cost,  to  secure  the  devotion  of  so  indispensable 
a  minister.  For  a  slight  offence  one  of  the  oldest  Ger- 
man houses  was  expelled  from  their  hereditary  domin- 
ions, that  a  creature  of  the  Emperor  might  be  enriched 
by  their  spoils  (1628). 

Wallenstein  now  began  to  assume  the  title  of  general- 
issimo of  the  Emperor  by  sea  and  land.  Wismar  was 
taken,  and  a  firm  footing  gained  on  the  Baltic.  Ships 
were  required  from  Poland  and  the  Hans  towns  to  carry 
the  war  to  the  other  side  of  the  Baltic ;  to  pursue  the 
Danes  into  the  heart  of  their  own  country,  and  to  com- 
pel them  to  a  peace  which  might  prepare  the  way  to 
more 'important  conquests.  The  communication  between 
the  Lower  German  States  and  the  Northern  powers  would 
be  broken  could  the  Emperor  place  himself  between 
them,  and  encompass  Germany  from  the  Adriatic  to  the 


118  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

Sound  (the  intervening  kingdom  of  Poland  being  already 
dependent  on  him)  with  an  unbroken  line  of  territory. 
If  such  was  the  Emperor's  plan,  Wallenstein  had  a  pe- 
culiar interest  in  its  execution.  These  possessions  on 
the  Baltic  should,  he  intended,  form  the  first  foundation 
of  a  power  which  had  long  been  the  object  of  his  ambi- 
tion, and  which  should  enable  him  to  throw  off  his  de- 
pendence on  the  Emperor. 

To  effect  this  object  it  was  of  extreme  importance  to 
gain  possession  of  Stralsund,  a  town  on  the  Baltic.  Its 
excellent  harbor,  and  the  short  passage  from  it  to  the 
Swedish  and  Danish  coasts,  peculiarly  fitted  it  for  a  naval 
station  in  a  war  with  these  powers.  This  town,  the 
sixth  of  the  Hanseatic  League,  enjoyed  great  privileges 
under  the  Duke  of  Pomerania,  and,  totally  independent 
of  Denmark,  had  taken  no  share  in  the  war.  But  neither 
its  neutrality  nor  its  privileges  could  protect  it  against 
the  encroachments  of  Wallenstein  when  he  had  once  cast 
a  longing  look  upon  it. 

The  request  he  made,  that  Stralsund  should  receive  an 
imperial  garrison,  had  been  firmly  and  honorably  rejected 
by  the  magistracy,  who  also  refused  his  cunningly  de- 
manded permission  to  march  his  troops  through  the 
town.  Wallenstein  therefore  now  proposed  to  be- 
siege it. 

The  independence  of  Stralsund,  as  securing  the  free 
navigation  of  the  Baltic,  was  equally  important  to  the 
two  Northern  kings.  A  common  danger  overcame  at 
last  the  private  jealousies  which  had  long  divided  these 
princes.  In  a  treaty  concluded  at  Copenhagen  in  1628 
they  bound  themselves  to  assist  Stralsund  with  their 
combined  force,  and  to  oppose  in  common  every  foreign 
power  which  should  appear  in  the  Baltic  with  hostile 
views.  Christian  IV.  also  threw  a  sufficient  garrison 
into  Stralsund,  and  by  his  personal  presence  animated 
the  courage  of  the  citizens.  Some  ships-of-war  which 
Sigismund,  King  of  Poland,  had  sent  to  the  assistance  of 
the  imperial  general  were  sunk  by  the  Danish  fleet ;  and 
as  Lubeck  refused  him  the  use  of  its  shipping,  this  im- 
perial generalissimo  of  the  sea  had  not  even  ships  enough 
to  blockade  this  single  harbor. 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  119 

Nothing  could  appear  more  adventurous  than  to  attempt 
the  conquest  of  a  strongly  fortified  seaport  without  first 
blockading  its  harbor.  Wallenstein,  however,  who  as  yet 
had  never  experienced  a  check,  wished  to  conquer  nature 
itself,  and  to  perform  impossibilities.  Stralsuud,  open  to 
the  sea,  continued  to  be  supplied  with  provisions  and 
reinforcements  ;  yet  Wallenstein  maintained  his  blockade 
on  the  land  side,  and  endeavored,  by  boasting  menaces, 
to  supply  his  want  of  real  strength.  "I  will  take  this 
town,"  said  he,  "  though  it  were  fastened  by  a  chain  to 
the  heavens."  The  Emperor  himself,  who  might  have 
cause  to  regret  an  enterprise  which  promised  no  very 
glorious  result,  joyfully  availed  himself  of  the  apparent 
submission  and  acceptable  propositions  of  the  inhabitants, 
to  order  the  general  to  retire  from  the  town.  Wallen- 
stein despised  the  command,  and  continued  to  harass  the 
besieged  by  incessant  assaults.  As  the  Danish  garrison, 
already  much  reduced,  was  unequal  to  the  fatigue  of 
this  prolonged  defence,  and  the  king  was  unable  to 
detach  any  further  troops  to  their  support,  Stralsund, 
with  Christian's  consent,  threw  itself  under  the  protection 
of  the  King  of  Sweden.  The  Danish  commander  left  the 
town  to  make  way  for  a  Swedish  governor,  who  gloriously 
defended  it.  Here  Wallenstein's  good  fortune  forsook 
him;  and,  for  the  first  time,  his  pride  experienced  the 
humiliation  of  relinquishing  his  prey,  after  the  loss  of 
many  months  and  of  twelve  thousand  men.  The  neces- 
sity to  which  he  reduced  the  town  of  applying  for 
protection  to  Sweden  laid  the  foundation  of  a  close 
alliance  between  Gustavus  Adolphus  and  Stralsund, 
which  greatly  facilitated  the  entrance  of  the  Swedes 
into  Germany. 

Hitherto  invariable  success  had  attended  the  arms  of 
the  Emperor  and  the  League,  and  Christian  IV.,  defeated 
in  Germany,  had  sought  refuge  in  his  own  island ;  but 
the  Baltic  checked  the  further  progress  of  the  conquerors. 
The  want  of  ships  not  only  stopped  the  pursuit  of  the 
king,  but  endangered  their  previous  acquisitions.  The 
union  of  the  two  northern  monarchs  was  not  to  be 
dreaded,  because,  so  long  as  it  lasted,  it  effectually 
prevented  the  Emperor  and  his  general  from  acquiring  a 


120  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

footing  on  the  Baltic,  or  effecting  a  landing  in  Sweden. 
But  if  they  could  succeed  in  dissolving  this  union,  and 
especially  in  securing  the  friendship  of  the  Danish  king, 
they  might  hope  to  overpower  the  insulated  force  of 
Sweden.  The  dread  of  the  interference  of  foreign 
powers,  the  insubordination  of  the  Protestants  in  his  own 
states,  and  still  more  the  storin  which  was  gradually 
darkening  along  the  whole  of  Protestant  Germany, 
inclined  the  Emperor  to  peace,  which  his  general,  from 
opposite  motives,  was  equally  desirous  to  effect.  Far 
from  wishing  for  a  state  of  things  which  would  reduce 
him  from  the  meridian  of  greatness  and  glory  to  the 
obscurity  of  private  life,  he  only  wished  to  change 
the  theatre  of  war,  and  by  a  partial  peace  to  prolong  the 
general  confusion.  The  friendship  of  Denmark,  whose 
neighbor  he  had  become  as  Duke  of  Mecklenburgh,  was 
most  important  for  the  success  of  his  ambitious  views ; 
and  he  resolved,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  his  sovereign's 
interests,  to  secure  its  alliance. 

By  the  treaty  of  Copenhagen,  Christian  IV.,  had  ex- 
pressly engaged  not  to  conclude  a  separate  peace  with 
the  Emperor  without  the  consent  of  Sweden.  Notwith- 
standing, Wallenstein's  proposition  was  readily  received 
by  him.  In  a  conference  at  Lubeck  in  1629,  from  which 
Wallenstein,  with  studied  con,tempt,  excluded  the  Swedish 
ambassadors  who  came  to  intercede  for  Mecklenburgh, 
all  the  conquests  taken  by  the  imperialists  were  restored 
to  the  Danes.  '  The  conditions  imposed  upon  the  king 
were,  that  he  should  interfere  no  farther  with  the  affairs 
of  Germany  than  was  called  for  by  his  character  of  Duke 
of  Holstein  ;  that  he  should  on  no  pretext  harass  the 
Chapters  of  Lower  Germany,  and  should  leave  the  Dukes 
of  Mecklenbargh  to  their  fate.  By  Christian  himself  had 
these  princes  been  involved  in  the  war  with  the  Emperor  ; 
he  now  sacrificed  them  to  gain  the  favor  of  the  usurper  of 
their  territories.  Among  the  motives  which  had  engaged 
him  in  a  war  with  the  Emperor,  not  the  least  was  the 
restoration  of  his  relation,  the  Elector  Palatine  —  yet 
the  name  of  that  unfortunate  prince  was  not  even  men- 
tioned in  the  treaty  ;  while  in  one  of  its  articles  the 
legitimacy  of  the  Bavarian  election  was  expressly  recog- 


THE   THIRTY  YEARS'   WAR.  121 

nized.  Thus  meanly  and  ingloriously  did  Christian  IV. 
retire  from  the  field. 

Ferdinand  had  it  now  in  his  power,  for  the  second 
time,  to  secure  the  tranquillity  of  Germany ;  and  it 
depended  solely  on  his  will  whether  the  treaty  with 
Denmark  should  or  should  not  be  the  basis  of  a  general 
peace.  From  every  quarter  arose  the  cry  of  the  unfortu- 
nate, petitioning  for  an  end  of  their  sufferings;  the 
cruelties  of  his  soldiers,  and  the  rapacity  of  his  generals, 
had  exceeded  all  bounds.  Germany,  laid  waste  by  the 
desolating  bands  of  Mansfeld  and  the  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick, and  by  the  still  more  terrible  hordes  of  Tilly  and 
Wallenstein,  lay  exhausted,  bleeding,  wasted,  and  sighing 
for  repose.  An  anxious  desire  for  peace  was  felt  by  all 
conditions,  and  by  the  Emperor  himself,  involved  as  lie 
was  in  a  war  with  France  in  Upper  Italy,  exhausted  by 
his  past  warfare  in  Germany,  and  apprehensive  of  the 
day  of  reckoning  which  was  approaching.  But,  unfortu- 
nately, the  conditions  on  which  alone  the  two  religious 
parties  were  willing  respectively  to  sheath  the  sword 
were  irreconcilable.  The  Roman  Catholics  wished  to 
terminate  the  war  to  their  own  advantage  ;  the  Prot- 
estants advanced  equal  pretensions.  The  Emperor, 
instead  of  uniting  both  parties  by  a  prudent  moderation, 
sided  with  one ;  and  thus  Germany  was  again  plunged  in 
the  horrors  of  a  bloody  war. 

From  the  very  close  of  the  Bohemian  troubles,  Ferdi- 
nand had  carried  on  a  counter  reformation  in  his  heredi- 
tary dominions,  in  which,  however,  from  regard  to  some 
of  the  Protestant  Estates,  he  proceeded,  at  first,  with 
moderation.  But  the  victories  of  his  generals  in  Lower 
Germany  encouraged  him  to  throw  off  all  reserve.  Ac- 
cordingly he  had  it  intimated  to  all  the  Protestants  in 
these  dominions  that  they  must  either  abandon  their 
religion  or  their  native  country,  —  a  bitter  and  dreadful 
alternative,  which  excited  the  most  violent  commotions 
among  his  Austrian  subjects.  In  the  Palatinate,  immedi- 
ately after  the  expulsion  of  Frederick,  the  Protestant 
religion  had  been  suppressed,  and  its  professors  expelled 
from  the  University  of  Heidelberg. 

All  this  was  but  the  prelude  to  greater  changes.     In 


122  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

the  Electoral  Congress  held  at  Miihlhausen,  the  Roman 
Catholics  had  demanded  of  the  Emperor  that  all  the 
archbishoprics,  bishoprics,  mediate  and  immediate,  ab- 
bacies and  monasteries,  which,  since  the  Diet  of  Augsburg, 
had  been  secularized  by  the  Protestants,  should  be 
restored  to  the  church,  in  order  to  indemnify  them  for 
the  losses  and  sufferings  in  the  war.  To  a  Roman 
Catholic  prince  so  zealous  as  Ferdinand  was,  such  a  hint 
was  not  likely  to  be  neglected ;  but  he  still  thought  it 
would  be  premature  to  arouse  the  whole  Protestants  of 
Germany  by  so  decisive  a  step.  Not  a  single  Protestant 
prince  but  would  be  deprived,  by  this  revocation  of  the 
religious  foundations,  of  a  part  of  his  lands ;  for  where 
these  revenues  had  not  actually  been  diverted  to  secular 
purposes  they  had  been  made  over  to  the  Protestant  church. 
To  this  source  many  princes  owed  the  chief  part  of  their 
revenues  and  importance.  All,  without  exception,  would 
be  irritated  by  this  demand  for  restoi-ation.  The  religious 
treaty  did  not  expressly  deny  their  right  to  these  chapters, 
although  it  did  not  allow  it.  But  a  possession  which  had 
now  been  held  for  nearly  a  century,  the  silence  of  four 
preceding  emperors,  and  the  law  of  equity,  which  gave 
them  an  equal  right  with  the  Roman  Catholics  to  the 
foundations  of  their  common  ancestors,  might  be  strongly 
pleaded  by  them  as  a  valid  title.  Besides  the  actual  loss 
of  power  and  authority,  which  the  surrender  of  these 
foundations  would  occasion,  besides  the  inevitable  confu- 
sion which  would  necessarily  attend  it,  one  important 
disadvantage  to  which  it  would  lead,  was,  that  the 
restoration  of  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops  would  increase 
the  strength  of  that  party  in  the  Diet  by  so  many  addi- 
tional votes.  Such  grievous  sacrifices  likely  to  fall  on 
the  Protestants  made  the  Emperor  apprehensive  of  a 
formidable  opposition  ;  and  until  the  military  ardor  should 
have  cooled  in  Germany,  he  had  no  wish  to  provoke  a 
party  formidable  by  its  union,  and  which  in  the  Elector 
of  Saxony  had  a  powerful  leader.  He  resolved,  therefore, 
to  try  the  experiment  at  first  on  a  small  scale,  in  order  to 
ascertain  how  it  was  likely  to  succeed  on  a  larger  one. 
Accordingly,  some  of  the  free  cities  in  Upper  Germany, 
and  the  Duke  of  Wirtemberg,  received  orders  to  sur- 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  123 

render  to  the  Roman  Catholics  several  of  the  confiscated 
chapters. 

The  state  of  affairs  in  Saxony  enabled  the  Emperor  to 
make  some  bolder  experiments  in  that  quarter.  In  the 
bishoprics  of  Magdeburg  and  Halberstadt  the  Protestant 
canons  had  not  hesitated  to  elect  bishops  of  their  own 
religion.  Both  bishoprics,  with  the  exception  of  the  town 
of  Magdeburg  itself,  were  overrun  by  the  troops  of 
Wallenstein.  It  happened,  moreover,  that  by  the  death 
of  the  Administrator,  Duke  Christian  of  Brunswick,  Hal- 
berstadt was  vacant,  as  was  also  the  Archbishopric  of 
Magdeburg  by  the  deposition  of  Christian  William,  a 
prince  of  the  House  of  Brandenburg.  Ferdinand  took 
advantage  of  the  circumstance  to  restore  the  see  of  Hal- 
berstadt to  a  Roman  Catholic  bishop,  and  a  prince  of  his 
own  house.  To  avoid  a  similar  coercion,  the  Chapter  of 
Magdeburg  hastened  to  elect  a  son  of  the  Elector  of 
Saxony  as  archbishop.  But  the  pope,  who  with  his  arro- 
gated authority  interfered  in  this  matter,  conferred  the 
Archbishopric  of  Magdeburg  also  on  the  Austrian  prince. 
Tims,  with  all  his  pious  zeal  for  religion,  Ferdinand  never 
lost  sight  of  the  interests  of  his  family. 

At  length,  when  the  peace  of  Lubeck  had  delivered  the 
Emperor  from  all  apprehensions  on  the  side  of  Denmark, 
and  the  German  Protestants  seemed  entirely  powerless, 
the  League  becoming  louder  and  more  urgent  in  its 
demands,  Ferdinand,  in  1629,  signed  the  Edict  of  Restitu- 
tion (so  famous  by  its  disastrous  consequences),  which 
he  had  previously  laid  before  the  four  Roman  Catholic 
electors  for  their  approbation.  In  the  preamble,  he 
claimed  the  prerogative,  in  right  of  his  imperial  authority, 
to  interpret  the  meaning  of  the  religious  treaty,  the  am- 
biguities of  which  had  already  caused  so  many  disputes, 
and  to  decide  as  supreme  arbiter  and  judge  between  the 
contending  parties.  This  prerogative  he  founded  upon 
the  practice  of  his  ancestors,  and  its  previous  recognition 
even  by  Protestant  states.  Saxony  had  actually  ac- 
knowledged this  right  of  the  Emperor ;  and  it  now  be- 
came evident  how  deeply  this  court  had  injured  the 
Protestant  cause  by  its  dependence  on  the  House  of  Aus- 
tria. But  though  the  meaning  of  the  religious  treaty  was 


124  THE   THIRTY  YEARS*  WAR. 

really  ambiguous,  as  a  century  of  religious  disputes  suf- 
ficiently proved,  yet  for  the  Emperor,  who  must  be  either 
a  Protestant  or  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  therefore  an  inter- 
ested party,  to  assume  the  right  of  deciding  between  the 
disputants,  was  clearly  a  violation  of  an  essential  article 
of  the  pacification.  He  could  not  be  judge  in  his  own 
cause  without  reducing  the  liberties  of  the  empire  to  an 
empty  sound. 

And  now,  in  virtue  of  this  usurpation,  Ferdinand  de- 
cided, "  That  every  secularization  of  a  religious  founda- 
tion, mediate  or  immediate,  by  the  Protestants,  subsequent 
to  the  date  of  the  treaty,  was  contrary  to  its  spirit,  and 
must  be  revoked  as  a  breach  of  it."  He  further  decided, 
"That,  by  the  religious  peace,  Catholic  proprietors'  of 
estates  were  no  further  bound  to  their  Protestant  subjects 
than  to  allow  them  full  liberty  to  quit  their  territories." 
In  obedience  to  this  decision,  all  unlawful  possessors  of 
benefices  —  the  Protestant  states  in  short  without  excep- 
tion—  were  ordered,  under  pain  of  the  ban  of  the  empire, 
immediately  to  surrender  their  usurped  possessions  to 
the  imperial  commissioners. 

This  sentence  applied  to  no  less  than  two  archbishoprics 
and  twelve  bishoprics,  besides  innumerable  abbacies. 
The  edict  came  like  a  thunderbolt  on  the  whole  of  Prot- 
estant Germany;  dreadful  even  in  its  immediate  conse- 
quences ;  but  yet  more  so  from  the  further  calamities  it 
seemed  to  threaten.  The  Protestants  were  now  convinced 
that  the  suppression  of  their  religion  had  been  resolved 
on  by  the  Emperor  and  the  League,  and  that  the  over- 
throw of  German  liberty  would  soon  follow.  Their  re- 
monstrances were  unheeded ;  the  commissioners  were 
named,  and  an  army  assembled  to  enforce  obedience. 
The  edict  was  first  put  in  force  in  Augsburg,  where  the 
treaty  was  concluded  ;  the  city  was  again  placed  under 
the  government  of  its  bishop,  and  six  Protestant  churches 
in  the  town  were  closed.  The  Duke  of  Wirtemberg  was, 
in  like  manner,  compelled  to  surrender  his  abbacies. 
These  severe  measures,  though  they  alarmed  the  Protest- 
ant states,  were  yet  insufficient  to  rouse  them  to  an  active 
resistance.  Their  fear  of  the  Emperer  was  too  strong, 
and  many  were  disposed  to  quiet  submission.  The  hope 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  125 

of  attaining  their  end  by  gentle  measures  induced  the 
Roman  Catholics  likewise  to  delay  for  a  year  the  execu- 
tion of  the  edict,  and  this  saved  the  Protestants ;  before 
the  end  of  that  period  the  success  of  Swedish  arras  had 
totally  changed  the  state  of  affairs. 

In  a  Diet  held  at  Ratisbon,  at  which  Ferdinand  was 
present  in  person  (in  1630),  the  necessity  of  taking  some 
measures  for  the  immediate  restoration  of  a  general  peace 
to  Germany,  and  for  the  removal  of  all  grievances,  was 
debated.  The  complaints  of  the  Roman  Catholics  were 
scarcely  less  numerous  than  those  of  the  Protestants, 
although  Ferdinand  had  flattered  himself  that  by  the 
Edict  of  Restitution  he  had  secured  the  members  of  the 
League,  and  its  leader  by  the  gift  of  the  electoral  dignity, 
and  the  cession  of  great  part  of  the  Palatinate.  But  the 
good  understanding  between  the  Emperor  and  the  princes 
of  the  League  had  rapidly  declined  since  the  employment 
of  Wallenstein.  Accustomed  to  give  law  to  Germany, 
and  even  to  sway  the  Emperor's  own  destiny,  the  haughty 
Elector  of  Bavaria  now  at  once  saw  himself  supplanted 
by  the  imperial  general,  and  with  that  of  the  League,  his 
own  importance  completely  undermined.  Another  had 
now  stepped  in  to  reap  the  fruits  of  his  victories,  and  to 
bury  his  past  services  in  oblivion.  Wallenstein's  impe- 
rious character,  whose  dearest  triumph  was  in  degrading 
the  authority  of  the  princes,  and  giving  an  odious  latitude 
to  that  of  the  Emperor,  tended  not  a  little  to  augment 
the  irritation  of  the  Elector.  Discontented  with  the 
Emperor,  and  distrustful  of  his  intentions,  he  had  entered 
into  an  alliance  with  France,  which  the  other  members  of 
the  League  were  suspected  of  favoring.  A  fear  of  the 
Emperor's  plans  of  aggrandizement,  and  discontent  with 
existing  evils,  had  extinguished  among  them  all  feelings  of 
gratitude.  Wallenstein's  exactions  had  become  altogether 
intolerable.  Brandenburg  estimated  its  losses  at  twenty, 
Pomerania  at  ten,  Hesse  Cassel  at  seven  millions  of  dol- 
lars, and  the  rest  in  proportion.  The  cry  of  redress  was 
loud,  urgent,  and  universal;  all  prejudices  were  hushed  ; 
Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants  were  alike  on  this 
point.  The  terrified  Emperor  was  assailed  on  all  sides 
by  petitions  against  Wallenstein,  and  his  ear  filled  with 


126  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

the  most  fearful  descriptions  of  his  outrages.  Ferdinand 
was  not  naturally  cruel.  If  not  totally  innocent  of  the 
atrocities  which  were  practised  in  Germany  under  the 
shelter  of  his  name,  he  was  ignorant  of  their  extent ;  and 
he  was  not  long  in  yielding  to  the  representation  of  the 
princes,  and  reduced  his  standing  army  by  eighteen 
thousand  cavalry.  While  this  reduction  took  place,  the 
Swedes  were  actively  preparing  an  expedition  into  Ger- 
many, and  the  greater  part  of  the  disbanded  Imperialists 
enlisted  under  their  banners. 

The  Emperor's  concessions  only  encouraged  the  Elector 
of  Bavaria  to  bolder  demands.  So  long  as  the  Duke  of 
Friedland  retained  the  supreme  command  his  triumph 
over  the  Emperor  was  incomplete.  The  princes  of  the 
League  were  meditating  a  severe  revenge  on  Wallenstein 
for  that  haughtiness  with  whicli  he  had  treated  them  all 
alike.  His  dismissal  was  demanded  by  the  whole  college 
of  electors,  and  even  by  Spain,  with  a  degree  of  unanim- 
ity and  urgency  which  astonished  the  Emperor.  The 
anxiety  with  which  "VVallenstein's  enemies  pressed  for  his 
dismissal  ought  to  have  convinced  the  Emperor  of  the 
importance  of  his  services.  Wallenstein,  informed  of  the 
cabals  which  were  forming  against  him  in  Ratisbon,  lost 
no  time  in  opening  the  eyes  of  the  Emperor  to  the  real 
views  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria.  He  himself  appeared  in 
Ratisbon,  with  a  pomp  which  threw  his  master  into  the 
shade,  and  increased  the  hatred  of  his  opponents. 

Long  was  the  Emperor  undecided.  The  sacrifice  de- 
manded was  a  painful  one.  To  the  Duke  of  Friedland 
alone  he  owed  his  preponderance ;  he  felt  how  much  he 
would  lose  in  yielding  him  to  the  indignation  of  the 
princes.  But  at  this  moment,  unfortunately,  he  was  un- 
der the  necessity  of  conciliating  the  Electors.  His  son 
Ferdinand  had  already  been  chosen  King  of  Hungary, 
and  he  was  endeavoring  to  procure  his  election  as  his 
successor  in  the  empire.  For  this  purpose  the  support 
of  Maximilian  was  indispensable.  This  consideration  was 
the  weightiest,  and  to  oblige  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  he 
scrupled  not  to  sacrifice  his  most  valuable  servant. 

At  the  Diet  at  Ratisbon  there  were  present  ambassa- 
dors from  France,  empowered  to  adjust  the  differences 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  127 

which  seemed  to  menace  a  war  in  Italy  between  the  Em- 
peror and  their  sovereign.  Vincent,  Duke  of  Mantua 
and  Montferrat,  dying  without  issue,  his  next  relation, 
Charles  Duke  of  Nevers,  had  taken  possession  of  this 
inheritance,  without  doing  homage  to  the  Emperior  as 
liege  lord  of  the  principality.  Encouraged  by  the  support 
of  France  and  Venice,  he  refused  to  surrender  these 
territories  into  the  hands  of  the  imperial  commissioners, 
until  his  title  to  them  should  be  decided.  On  the  other 
hand,  Ferdinand  had  taken  up  arms  at  the  instigation  of 
the  Spaniards,  to  whom,  as  possessors  of  Milan,  the  near 
neighborhood  of  a  vassal  of  France  was  peculiarly  alarm- 
ing, and  who  welcomed  this  prospect  of  making,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Emperor,  additional  conquests  in  Italy. 
In  spite  of  all  the  exertions  of  Pope  Urban  VIII.  to  avert 
a  war  in  that  country,  Ferdinand  marched  a  German 
army  across  the  Alps,  and  threw  the  Italian  states  into  a 
general  consternation.  His  arms  had  been  successful 
throughout  Germany,  and  exaggerated  fears  revived  the 
olden  apprehension  of  Austria's  projects  of  universal 
monarchy.  All  the  horrors  of  the  German  war  now 
spread  like  a  deluge  over  those  favored  countries  which 
the  Po  waters ;  Mantua  was  taken  by  storm,  and  the  sur- 
rounding districts  given  up  to  the  ravages  of  a  lawless 
soldiery.  The  curse  of  Italy  was  thus  added  to  the  male- 
dictions upon  the  Emperor  which  resounded  through  Ger- 
many ;  and  even  in  the  Roman  Conclave,  silent  prayers 
were  offered  for  the  success  of  the  Protestant  arms. 

Alarmed  by  the  universal  hatred  which  this  Italian 
campaign  had  drawn  upon  him,  and  wearied  out  by  the 
urgent  remonstrances  of  the  Electors,  who  zealously  sup- 
ported the  application  of  the  French  ambassador,  the 
Emperor  promised  the  investiture  to  the  new  Duke  of 
Mantua. 

This  important  service  on  the  part  of  Bavaria  of  course 
required  an  equivalent  from  France.  The  adjustment  of 
the  treaty  gave  the  envoys  of  Richelieu,  during  their 
residence  in  Ratisbon,  the  desired  opportunity  of  entang- 
ling the  Emperor  in  dangerous  intrigues,  of  inflaming  the 
discontented  princes  of  the  League  still  more  strongly 
against  him,  and  of  turning  to  his  disadvantage  all  the 


128  THE   THIRTY  YEARS*    WAR. 

transactions  of  the  Diet.  For  this  purpose  Richelieu  had 
chosen  an  admirable  instrument  in  Father  Joseph,  a 
Capuchin  friar,  who  accompanied  the  ambassadors  with- 
out exciting  the  least  suspicion.  One  of  his  principal 
instructions  was  assiduously  to  bring  about  the  dismissal 
of  Wallenstein.  With  the  general  who  had  led  it  to  vic- 
tory the  army  of  Austria  would  lose  its  principal  strength; 
many  armies  could  not  compensate  for  the  loss  of  this  in- 
dividual. It  would  therefore  be  a  master-stroke  of  policy, 
at  the  very  moment  when  a  victorious  monarch,  the  ab- 
solute master  of  his  operations,  was  arming  against  the 
E  nperor,  to  remove  from  the  head  of  the  imperial  armies 
the  only  general  who,  by  ability  and  military  experience, 
was  able  to  cope  with  the  French  king.  Father  Joseph,  in 
the  interests  of  Bavaria,  undertook  to  overcome  the  irreso- 
lution of  the  Emperor,  who  was  now  in  a  manner  besieged 
by  the  Spaniards  and  the  .Electoral  Council.  "  It  would 
be  expedient,"  he  thought,  "  to  gratify  the  Electors  on 
this  occasion,  and  thereby  facilitate  his  son's  election  to 
the  Roman  Crown.  This  object  once  gained  Wallen- 
stein could  at  any  time  resume  his  former  station."  The 
artful  Capuchin  was  too  sure  of  his  man  to  touch  upon 
this  ground  of  consolation. 

The  voice  of  a  monk  was  to  Ferdinand  II.  the  voice  of 
God.  "Nothing  on  earth,"  writes  his  own  confessor, 
"  was  more  sacred  ip  his  eyes  than  a  priest.  If  it  could 
happen,  he  used  to  say,  that  an  angel  and  a  Regular  were 
to  meet  him  at  the  same  time  and  place,  the  Regular 
should  receive  his  first,  and  the  angel  his  second  obei- 
sance." Wallenstein's  dismissal  was  determined  upon. 

In  return  for  this  pious  concession,  the  Capuchin  dex- 
terously counteracted  the  Emperor's  scheme  to  procure 
for  the  King  of  Hungary  the  further  dignity  of  King  of 
the  Romans.  In  an  express  clause  of  the  treaty  just  con- 
cluded, the  French  ministers  engaged  in  the  name  of 
their  sovereign  to  observe  a  complete  neutrality  between 
the  Emperor  and  his  enemies ;  while  at  the  same  time, 
Richelieu  was  actually  negotiating  with  the  King  of 
Sweden  to  declare  war,  and  pressing  upon  him  the  alli- 
ance of  his  master.  The  latter,  indeed,  disavowed  the 
lie  as  soon  as  it  had  served  its  purpose,  and  Father  Joseph, 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  129 

confined  to  a  convent,  must  atone  for  the  alleged  offence 
of  exceeding  his  instructions.  Ferdinand  perceived,  when 
too  late,  that  he  had  been  imposed  upon.  "  A  wicked 
Capuchin,"  he  was  heard  to  say,  "  has  disarmed  me  with 
his  rosary,  and  thrust  nothing  less  than  six  electoral 
crowns  into  his  cowl." 

Artifice  and  trickery  thus  triumphed  over  the  Emperor 
at  the  moment  when  he  was  believed  to  be  omnipotent 
in  Germany,  and  actually  was  so  in  the  field.  With  the 
loss  of  eighteen  thousand  men,  and  of  a  general  who  alone 
was  worth  whole  armies,  he  left  Ratisbon  without  gain- 
ing the  end  for  which  he  had  made  such  sacrifices.  Be- 
fore the  Swedes  had  vanquished  him  in  the  field,  Maxi- 
milian of  Bavaria  and  Father  Joseph  had  given  him  a 
mortal  blow.  At  this  memorable  Diet  at  Ratisbon  the 
war  with  Sweden  was  resolved  upon,  and  that  of  Mantua 
terminated.  Vainly  had"  the  princes  present  at  it  inter- 
ceded for  the  Dukes  of  Mecklenburgh  ;  and  equally  fruit- 
less had  been  an  application  by  the  English  ambassadors 
for  a  pension  to  the  Palatine  Frederick. 

Wallenstein  was  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  nearly 
a  hundred  thousand  men  who  adored  him  when  the 
sentence  of  his  dismissal  arrived.  Most  of  the  officers 
were  his  creatures  :  —  with  the  common  soldiers  his  hint 
was  law.  His  ambition  was  boundless,  his  pride  indomi- 
table, his  imperious  spirit  could  not  brook  an  injury 
unavenged.  One  moment  would  now  precipitate  him 
from  the  height  of  grandeur  into  the  obscurity  of  a  private 
station.  To  execute  such  a  sentence  upon  such  a  delin- 
quent seemed  to  require  more  address  than  it  cost  to 
obtain  it  from  the  judge.  Accordingly,  two  of  Wal- 
lenstein's  most  intimate  friends  were  selected  as  heralds 
of  these  evil  tidings,  and  instructed  to  soften  them  as 
much  as  possible  by  flattering  assurances  of  the  continu- 
ance of  the  Emperor's  favor. 

Wallenstein  had  ascertained  the  purport  of  their 
message  before  the  imperial  ambassadors  arrived.  He 
had  time  to  collect  himself,  and  his  countenance  exhibited 
an  external  calmness,  while  grief  and  rage  were  storming 
in  his  bosom.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  to  obey.  The 
Emperor's  decision  had  taken  him  by  surprise  before 


130  THE   THIRTY   YEARS*    WAR. 

circumstances  were  ripe,  or  his  preparations  complete,  for 
the  bold  measures  he  had  contemplated.  His  extensive 
estates  were  scattered  over  Bohemia  and  Moravia ;  and 
by  their  confiscation  the  Emperor  might  at  once  destroy 
the  sinews  of  his  power.  He  looked,  therefore,  to  the 
future  for  revenge ;  and  in  this  hope  he  was  encouraged 
by  the  predictions  of  an  Italian  astrologer,  who  led 
his  imperious  spirit  like  a  child  in  leading-strings.  Seni 
had  read  in  the  stars  that  his  master's  brilliant  career 
was  not  yet  ended ;  and  that  bright  and  glorious  pros- 
pects still  awaited  him.  It  was,  indeed,  unnecessary  to 
consult  the  stars  to  foretell  that  an  enemy,  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  would  ere  long  render  indispensable  the  services 
of  such  a  general  as  Wallenstein. 

"  The  Emperor  is  betrayed,"  said  Wallenstein  to  the 
messengers ;  "  I  pity  but  forgive  him.  It  is  plain  that 
the  grasping  spirit  of  the  Bavarian  dictates  to  him.  I 
grieve  that,  with  so  much  weakness,  he  has  sacrificed  me, 
but  I  will  obey."  He  dismissed  the  emissaries  with 
princely  presents ;  and  in  an  humble  letter  besought  the 
continuance  of  the  Emperor's  favor,  and  of  the  dignities 
he  had  bestowed  upon  him. 

The  murmurs  of  the  army  were  universal  on  hearing 
of  the  dismissal  of  their  general ;  and  the  greater  part  of 
his  officers  immediately  quitted  the  imperial  service. 
Many  followed  him  to  his  estates  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia  ; 
others  he  attached  to  his  interests  by  pensions,  in  order 
to  command  their  services  when  the  opportunity  should 
offer. 

But  repose  was  the  last  thing  that  Wallenstein  contem- 
plated when  he  returned  to  private  life.  In  his  retreat 
he  surrounded  himself  with  a  regal  pomp  which  seemed 
to  mock  the  sentence  of  degradation.  Six  gates  led  to 
the  palace  he  inhabited  in  Prague,  and  a  hundred  houses 
were  pulled  down  to  make  way  for  his  courtyard.  Sim- 
ilar palaces  were  built  on  his  other  numerous  estates. 
Gentlemen  of  the  noblest  houses  contended  for  the 
honor  of  serving  him,  and  even  imperial  chamberlains 
resigned  the  golden  key  to  the  Emperor  to  fill  a  similar 
office  under  Wallenstein.  He  maintained  sixty  pages, 
who  were  instructed  by  the  ablest  masters.  His  ante- 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  131 

chamber  was  protected  by  fifty  life-guards.  His  table 
never  consisted  of  less  than  one  hundred  covers,  and  his 
seneschal  was  a  person  of  distinction.  When  he  travelled, 
his  baggage  and  suite  accompanied  him  in  a  hundred 
wagons,  drawn  by  six  or  four  horses;  his  court  followed 
in  sixty  carriages,  attended  by  fifty  led  horses.  The 
pomp  of  his  liveries,  the  splendor  of  his  equipages,  and 
the  decorations  of  his  apartments,  were  in  keeping  with 
all  the  rest.  Six  barons  and  as  many  knights  were  in 
constant  attendance  about  his  person,  and  ready  to 
execute  his  slightest  order.  Twelve  patrols  went  their 
rounds  about  his  palace  to  prevent  any  disturbance. 
His  busy  genius  required  silence.  The  noise  of  coaches 
was  to  be  kept  away  from  his  residence,  and  the  streets 
leading  to  it  were  frequently  blocked  up  with  chains. 
His  own  circle  was  as  silent  as  the  approaches  to  his 
palace  ;  dark,  reserved  and  impenetrable,  he  was  more 
sparing  of  his  words  than  of  his  gifts  ;  while  the  little 
that  he  spoke  was  harsh  and  imperious.  He  never 
smiled,  and  the  coldness  of  his  temperament  was  proof 
against  sensual  seductions.  Ever  occupied  with  grand 
schemes,  he  despised  all  those  idle  amusements  in  which 
so  many  waste  their  lives.  The  correspondence  he  kept 
up  with  the  whole  of  Europe  was  chiefly  managed  by 
himself,  and,  that  as  little  as  possible  might  be  trusted  to 
the  silence  of  others,  most  of  the  letters  were  written  by 
his  own  hand.  He  was  a  man  of  large  stature,  thin,  of  a 
sallow  complexion,  with  short  red  hair,  and  small  spark- 
ling eyes.  A  gloomy  and  forbidding  seriousness  sat 
upon  his  brow ;  and  his  magnificent  presents  alone 
retained  the  trembling  crowd  of  his  dependents. 

In  this  stately  obscurity  did  Wallenstein  silently  but 
not  inactively  await  the  hour  of  revenge.  The  victorious 
career  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  soon  gave  him  a  presenti- 
ment of  its  approach.  Not  one  of  his  lofty  schemes  had 
been  abandoned ;  and  the  Emperor's  ingratitude  had 
loosened  the  curb  of  his  ambition.  The  dazzling  splendor 
of  his  private  life  bespoke  high-soaring  projects;  and, 
lavish  as  a  king,  he  seemed  already  to  reckon  among 
his  certain  possessions  those  which  he  contemplated 
with  hope. 


132  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

After  Wallenstein's  dismissal,  and  the  invasion  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  a  new  generalissimo  was  to  be 
appointed ;  and  it  now  appeared  advisable  to  unite  both 
the  imperial  army  and  that  of  the  League  under  one 
general.  Maximilian  of  Bavaria  sought  this  appointment, 
which  would  have  enabled  him  to  dictate  to  the  Emperor, 
who,  from  a  conviction  of  this,  wished  to  procure  the 
command  for  his  eldest  son,  the  King  of  Hungary.  At 
last,  in  order  to  avoid  offence  to  either  of  the  competi- 
tors, the  appointment  was  given  to  Tilly,  who  now 
exchanged  the  Bavarian  for  the  Austrian  service.  The 
imperial  army  in  Germany,  after  the  retirement  of  Wal- 
lenstein,  amounted  to  about  forty  thousand  men ;  that  of 
the  League  to  nearly  the  same  number,  both  commanded 
by  excellent  officers,  trained  by  the  experience  of  several 
campaigns,  and  proud  of  a  long  series  of  victories.  "With 
such  a  force  little  apprehension  was  felt  at  the  invasion 
of  the  King  of  Sweden,  and  the  less  so  as  it  commanded 
both  Pomerania  and  Mecklenburgh,  the  only  countries 
through  which  he  could  enter  Germany. 

After  the  unsuccessful  attempt  of  the  King  of  Denmark 
to  check  the  Emperor's  progress,  Gustavus  Adolphus  was 
the  only  prince  in  Europe  from  whom  oppressed  liberty 
could  look  for  protection  —  the  only  one  who,  while  he 
was  personally  qualified  to  conduct  such  an  enterprise, 
had  both  political  motives  to  recommend  and  wrongs  to 
justify  it.  Before  the  commencement  of  the  war  in 
Lower  Saxony,  important  political  interests  induced  him, 
as  well  as  the  King  of  Denmark,  to  offer  his  services  and 
his  army  for  the  defence  of  Germany;  but  the  offer  of 
the  latter  had,  to  his  own  misfortune,  been  preferred. 
Since  that  time  Wallenstein  and  the  Emperor  had 
adopted  measures  which  must  have  been  equally  offensive 
to  him  as  a  man  and  as  a  king.  Imperial  troops  had 
been  despatched  to  the  aid  of  the  Polish  king,  Sigismund, 
to  defend  Prussia  against  the  Swedes.  When  the  king 
complained  to  Wallenstein  for  this  act  of  hostility,  he 
received  for  answer,  "  The  Emperor  has  more  soldiers 
than  he  wants  for  himself,  he  must  help  his  friends." 
The  Swedish  ambassadors  had  been  insolently  ordered 
by  Wallenstein  to  withdraw  from  the  conference  at 


THE   THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  133 

Lubeck  ;  and  when,  unawed  by  this  command,  they  were 
courageous  enough  to  remain,  contrary  to  the  law  of 
nations,  he  had  threatened  them  with  violence.  Fer- 
dinand had  also  insulted  the  Swedish  flag,  and  intercepted 
the  king's  despatches  to  Transylvania.  He  also  threw 
every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  peace  betwixt  Poland  and 
Sweden,  supported  the  pretensions  of  Sigismund  to  the 
Swedish  throne,  and  denied  the  right  of  Gustavus  to  the 
title  of  king.  Deigning  no  regard  to  the  repeated  remon- 
strances of  Gustavus,  he  rather  aggravated  the  offence 
by  new  grievances  than  acceded  the  required  satis- 
faction. 

So  many  personal  motives,  supported  by  important 
considerations,  both  of  policy  and  religion,  and  seconded 
by  pressing  invitations  from  Germany,  had  their  full 
weight  with  a  prince,  who  was  naturally  the  more  jealous 
of  his  royal  prerogative  the  more  it  was  questioned ;  who 
was  flattered  by  the  glory  he  hoped  to  gain  as  Protector 
of  the  Oppressed,  and  passionately  loved  war  as  the 
element  of  his  genius.  But  until  a  truce  or  peace  with 
Poland  should  set  his  hands  free,  a  new  and  dangerous 
war  was  not  to  be  thought  of. 

Cardinal  Richelieu  had  the  merit  of  effecting  this  truce 
with  Poland.  This  great  statesman,  who  guided  the 
helm  of  Europe,  while  in  France  he  repressed  the  rage 
of  faction  and  the  insolence  of  the  nobles,  pursued 
steadily,  amidst  the  cares  of  a  stormy  administration,  his 
plan  of  lowering  the  ascendancy  of  the  House  of  Austria. 
But  circumstances  opposed  considerable  obstacles  to  the 
execution  of  his  designs ;  and  even  the  greatest  minds 
cannot,  with  impunity,  defy  the  prejudices  of  the  age. 
The  minister  of  a  Roman  Catholic  king,  and  a  Cardinal, 
he  was  prevented  by  the  purple  he  bore  from  joining  the 
enemies  of  that  church  in  an  open  attack  on  a  power 
which  had  the  address  to  sanctify  its  ambitious  encroach- 
ments under  the  name  of  religion.  The  external  defer- 
ence which  Richelieu  was  obliged  to  pay  to  the  narrow 
views  of  his  contemporaries  limited  his  exertions  to  secret 
negotiations,  by  which  he  endeavored  to  gain  the  hand 
of  others  to  accomplish  the  enlightened  projects  of  his  own 
mind.  After  a  fruitless  attempt  to  prevent  the  peace 


134  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

between  Denmark  and  the  Emperor,  he  had  recourse  to 
Gustavus  Adolphtis,  the  hero  of  his  age.  No  exertion 
was  spared  to  bring  this  monarch  to  a  favorable  decision, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  facilitate  the  execution  of  it. 
Charnasse,  an  unsuspected  agent  of  the  Cardinal,  pro- 
ceeded to  Polish  Prussia,  where  Gustavus  Adolphus  was 
conducting  the  war  against  Sigisnumd,  and  alternately 
visited  these  princes,  in  order  to  persuade  them  to  a 
truce  or  peace.  Gustavus  had  been  long  inclined  to  it, 
and  the  French  minister  succeeded  at  last  in  opening  the 
eyes  of  Sigismund  to  his  true  interests,  and  to  the  de- 
ceitful policy  of  the  Emperor.  A  truce  for  six  years  was 
agreed  on,  Gustavus  being  allowed  to  retain  all  his  con- 
quests. This  treaty  gave  him  also  what  he  had  so  long 
desired,  the  liberty  of  directing  his  arms  against  the 
Emperor.  For  this  the  French  ambassador  offered  him 
the  alliance  of  his  sovereign  and  considerable  subsidies. 
But  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  justly  apprehensive  lest  the 
acceptance  of  the  assistance  should  make  him  dependent 
upon  France,  and  fetter  him  in  his  career  of  conquests, 
while  an  alliance  with  a  Roman  Catholic  power  might 
excite  distrust  among  the  Protestants. 

If  the  war  was  just  and  necessary,  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  was-undertaken  were  not  less  promising. 
The  name  of  the  Emperor,  it  is  true,  was  formidable,  his 
resources  inexhaustible,  his  power  hitherto  invincible. 
So  dangerous  a  contest  would  have  dismayed  any  other 
than  Gustavus.  He  saw  all  the  obstacles  and  dangers 
which  opposed  his  undertaking,  but  he  knew  also  the 
means  by  which,  as  he  hoped,  they  might  be  conquered. 
His  army,  though  not  numerous,  was  well  disciplined, 
inured  to  hardship  by  a  severe  climate  and  campaigns, 
and  trained  to  victory  in  the  war  with  Poland.  Sweden, 
though  poor  in  men  and  money,  and  overtaxed  by  an 
eight  years'  war,  was  devoted  to  its  monarch  with  an 
enthusiasm  which  assured  him  of  the  ready  support  of 
his  subjects.  In  Germany  the  name  of  the  Emperor 
was  at  least  as  much  hated  as  feared.  The  Protestant 
princes  only  awaited  the  arrival  of  a  deliverer  to  throw 
off  his  intolerable  yoke,  and  openly  declare  for  the 
Swedes.  Even  the  Roman  Catholic  states  would  welcome 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  135 

an  antagonist  to  the  Emperor,  whose  opposition  might 
control  his  overwhelming  influence.  The  first  victory 
gained  on  German  ground  would  be  decisive.  It  would 
encourage  those  princes  who  still  hesitated  to  declare 
themselves,  strengthen  the  cause  of  his  adherents,  aug- 
ment his  troops,  and  open  resources  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  campaign.  If  the  greater  part  of  the  German 
states  were  improverished  by  oppression  the  flourishing 
Hanse  towns  had  escaped,  and  they  could  not  hesitate, 
by  a  small  voluntary  sacrifice,  to  avert  the  general  ruin. 
As  the  imperialists  should  be  driven  from  the  different 
provinces,  their  armies  would  diminish,  since  they  were 
subsisting  on  the  countries  in  which  they  were  encamped. 
The  strength,  too,  of  the  Emperor  had  been  lessened  by 
ill-timed  detachments  to  Italy  and  the  Netherlands ; 
while  Spain  weakened,  by  the  loss  of  the  Manila  galleons, 
and  engaged  in  a  serious  war  in  the  Netherlands,  could 
afford  him  little  support.  Great  Britian,  on  the  other 
hand,  gave  the  King  of  Sweden  hope  of  considerable 
subsidies;  and  France,  now  at  peace  with  itself,  came 
forward  with  the  most  favorable  offers. 

But  the  strongest  pledge  for  the  success  of  his  under- 
taking Gustavus  found — in  himself.  Prudence  de- 
manded that  he  should  embrace  all  the  foreign  assistance 
he  could  in  order  to  guard  his  enterprise  from  the  impu- 
tation of  rashness  ;  but  all  his  confidence  and  courage  were 
entirely  derived  from  himself.  He  was  indisputably  the 
greatest  general  of  his  age,  and  the  bravest  soldier  in  the 
army  which  he  had  formed.  Familiar  with  the  tactics 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  he  had  discovered  a  more  effective 
system  of  warfare,  which  was  adopted  as  a  model  by  the 
most  eminent  commanders  of  subsequent  times.  He 
reduced  the  unwieldy  squadrons  of  cavalry,  and  rendered 
their  movements  more  light  and  rapid  ;  and,  with  the 
same  view,  he  widened  the  intervals  between  his  bat- 
talions. Instead  of  the  usual  array  in  a  single  line, 
he  disposed  his  forces  in  two  lines,  that  the  second  might 
advance  in  the  event  of  the  first  giving  way. 

He  made  up  for  his  want  of  cavalry  by  placing  infantry 
among  the  horse  ;  a  practice  which,  frequently  decided 
the  victory.  Europe  first  learned  from  him  the  impor- 


136  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

tance  of  infantry.  All  Germany  was  astonished  at  the 
strict  discipline  which,  at  the  first,  so  creditably  distin- 
guished the  Swedish  army  within  their  territories ;  all 
disorders  were  punished  with  the  utmost  severity,  partic- 
ularly impiety,  theft,  gambling,  and  duelling.  The 
Swedish  articles  of  war  enforced  frugality.  In  the  camp, 
the  King's  tent  not  excepted,  neither  silver  nor  gold  was 
to  be  seen.  The  general's  eye  looked  as  vigilantly  to  the 
morals  as  to  the  martial  bravery  of  his  soldiers;  every 
regiment  was  ordered  to  form  round  its  chaplain  for 
morning  and  evening  prayers.  In  all  these  points  the 
lawgiver  was  also  an  example.  A  sincere  and  ardent 
piety  exalted  his  courage.  Equally  free  from  the  coarse 
infidelity  which  leaves  the  passions  of  the  barbarian  with- 
out a  control,  —  and  from  the  grovelling  superstition  of 
Ferdinand,  who  humbled  himself  to  the  dust  before  the 
Supreme  Being,  while  he  haughtily  trampled  on  his 
fellow-creature  —  in  the  height  of  his  success  he  was  ever 
a  man  and  a  Christian  —  in  the  height  of  his  devotion,  a 
king  and  hero.  The  hardships  of  war  he  shared  with  the 
meanest  soldier  in  his  army;  maintained  a  calm  serenity 
amidst  the  hottest  fury  of  battle ;  his  glance  was  omni- 
present, and  he  intrepidly  forgot  the  danger  while  he 
exposed  himself  to  the  greatest  peril.  His  natural 
courage,  indeed,  too  often  made  him  forget  the  duty  of  a 
general ;  and  the  life  of  a  king  ended  in  the  death  of  a 
common  soldier.  But  such  a  leader  was  followed  to 
victory  alike  by  the  coward  and  the  brave,  and  his  eagle 
glance  marked  every  heroic  deed  which  his  example  had 
inspired.  The  fame  of  their  sovereign  excited  in  the 
nation  an  enthusiastic  sense  of  their  own  importance  ; 
proud  of  their  king,  the  peasant  in  Finland  and  Gothland 
joyfully  contributed  his  pittance ;  the  soldier  willingly 
shed  his  blood  ;  and  the  lofty  energy  which  his  single 
mind  had  imparted  to  the  nation  long  survived  its 
creator. 

The  necessity  of  the  war  was  acknowledged,  but  the 
best  plan  of  conducting  it  was  a  matter  of  much  ques- 
tion. Even  to  the  bold  Chancellor  Oxenstiern,  an  offen- 
sive war  appeared  too  daring  a  measure;  the  resources  of 
his  poor  and  conscientious  master  appeared  to  him  too 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  137 

slender  to  compete  with  those  of  a  despotic  sovereign 
who  held  all  Germany  at  his  command.  But  the  minis- 
ister's  timid  scruples  were  overruled  by  the  hero's  pene- 
trating prudence.  "  If  we  await  the  enemy  in  Sweden," 
said  Gustavus,  "  in  the  event  of  a  defeat  everything 
would  be  lost;  by  a  fortunate  commencement  in  Ger- 
many everything  would  be  gained.  The  sea  is  wide,  and 
we  have  a  long  line  of  coast  in  Sweden  to  defend.  If 
the  enemy's  fleet  should  escape  us,  or  our  own  be  de- 
feated, it  would,  in  either  case,  be  impossible  to  prevent 
the  enemy's  landing.  Everything  depends  on  the  reten- 
tion of  Stralsund.  So  long  as  this  harbor  is  open  to  us 
we  shall  both  command  the  Baltic  and  secure  a  retreat 
from  Germany.  But  to  protect  this  port  we  must  not 
remain  in  Sweden,  but  advance  at  once  into  Pomerania. 
Let  us  talk  no  more,  then,  of  a  defensive  war,  by  which 
we  should  sacrifice  our  greatest  advantages.  Sweden 
must  not  be  doomed  to  behold  a  hostile  banner ;  if  we 
are  vanquished  in  Germany,  it  will  be  time  enough  to 
follow  your  plan." 

Gustavus  resolved  to  cross  the  Baltic  and  attack  the 
Emperor.  His  preparations  were  made  with  the  utmost 
expedition,  and  his  precautionary  measures  were  not  less 
prudent  than  the  resolution  itself  was  bold  and  magnani- 
mous. Before  engaging  in  so  distant  a  war  it  was  neces- 
sary to  secure.  Sweden  against  its  neighbors.  At  a  per- 
sonal interview  with  the  King  of  Denmark  at  Markaroed 
Gustavus  assured  himself  of  the  friendship  of  that  mon- 
arch ;  his  frontier  on  the  side  of  Moscow  was  well  guarded; 
Poland  might  be  held  in  check  from  Germany,  if  it 
betrayed  any  design  of  infringing  the  truce.  Falken- 
berg,  a  Swedish  ambassador,  who  visited  the  courts  of 
Holland  and  Germany,  obtained  the  most  flattering 
promises  from  several  Protestant  princes,  though  none  of 
them  yet  possessed  courage  or  self-devotion  enough  to 
enter  into  a  formal  alliance  with  him.  Lubeck  and 
Hamburg  engaged  to  advance  him  money,  and  to  accept 
Swedish  copper  in  return.  Emissaries  were  also  de- 
spatched to  the  Prince  of  Transylvania  to  excite  that 
implacable  enemy  of  Austria  to  arms. 

In  the  meantime  Swedish  levies  were  made  in  Ger- 


138  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

many  and  the  Netherlands,  the  regiments  increased  to 
their  full  complement,  new  ones  raised,  transports  pro- 
vided, a  fleet  fitted  out,  provisions,  military  stores,  and 
money  collected.  Thirty  ships-of-war  were  in  a  short 
time  prepared,  fifteen  thousand  men  equipped,  and  two 
hundred  transports  were  ready  to  convey  them  across 
the  Baltic.  A  greater  force  Gustavus  Adolphus  was 
unwilling  to  carry  into  Germany,  and  even  the  mainte- 
nance of  this  exceeded  the  revenues  of  his  kingdom.  But 
however  small  his  army,  it  was  admirable  in  all  points  of 
discipline,  courage,  and  experience,  and  might  serve  as 
the  nucleus  of  a  more  powerful  armament  if  it  once 
gained  the  German  frontier  and  its  first  attempts  were 
attended  with  success.  Oxenstiern,  at  once  general  and 
chancellor,  was  posted  with  ten  thousand  men  in  Prussia 
to  protect  that  province  against  Poland.  Some  regular 
troops,  and  a  considerable  body  of  militia,  which  served 
as  a  nursery  for  the  main  body,  remained  in  Sweden  as  a 
defence  against  a  sudden  invasion  by  any  treacherous 
neighbor. 

These  were  the  measures  taken  for  the  external  de- 
fence of  the  kingdom.  Its  internal  administration  was 
provided  for  with  equal  care.  The  government  was 
entrusted  to  the  Council  of  State,  and  the  finances  to  the 
Palatine  John  Casimir,  the  brother-in  law  of  the  King, 
while  his  wife,  tenderly  as  he  was  attached  to  her,  was 
excluded  from  all  share  in  the  government,  for  which  her 
limited  talents  incapacitated  her.  He  set  his  house  in 
order  like  a  dying  man.  On  the  20th  May,  1630,  when 
all  his  measures  were  arranged,  and  all  was  ready  for  his 
departure,  the  King  appeared  in  the  Diet  at  Stockholm 
to  bid  the  States  a  solemn  farewell.  Taking  in  his  arms 
his  daughter  Christina,  then  only  four  years  old,  who,  in 
the  cradle  had  been  acknowledged  as  his  successor,  he 
presented  her  to  the  States  as  the  future  sovereign, 
exacted  from  them  a  renewal  of  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  her,  in  case  he  should  never  more  return,  and  then 
read  the  ordinances  for  the  government  of  the  kingdom 
during  his  absence  or  the  minority  of  his  daughter. 
The  whole  assembly  was  dissolved  in  tears,  and  the 
King  himself  was  some  time  before  he  could  attain 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  139 

sufficient  composure  to  deliver  his   farewell   address  to 
the  States. 

k- Xot  lightly  or  wantonly,"  said  he,  "am  I  about  to 
involve  myself  and  you  in  this  new  and  dangerous  war ; 
God  is  my  witness  that  /do  not  fight  to  gratify  my  own 
ambition.  But  the  Emperor  has  wronged  me  most 
shamefully  in  the  person  of  my  ambassadors.  He  has 
supported  my  enemies,  persecuted  my  friends  and  breth- 
ren, trampled  my  religion  in  the  dust,  and  even  stretched 
his  revengeful  arm  against  my  crown.  The  oppressed 
states  of  Germany  call  loudly  for  aid,  which,  by  God's 
help,  we  will  give  them. 

"  I  am  fully  sensible  of  the  dangers  to  which  my  life 
will  be  exposed.  I  have  never  yet  shrunk  front  them, 
nor  is  it  likely  that  I  shall  escape  them  all.  Hitherto, 
Providence  has  wonderfully  protected  me,  but  I  shall  at 
last  fall  in  defence  of  my  country.  I  commend  you  to 
the  protection  of  Heaven.  Be  just,  be  conscientious,  act 
uprightly,  and  we  shall  meet  again  in  eternity. 

"To  you,  my  Councillors  of  State,  I  address  myself 
first.  May  God  enlighten  you  and  fill  you  with  wisdom 
to  promote  the  welfare  of  my  people.  You,  toe^  my  brave 
nobles,  I  commend  to  the  divine  protection.  Continue 
to  prove  yourselves  the  worthy  successors  of  those  Gothic 
heroes  whose  bravery  humbled  to  the  dust  the  pride  of 
ancient  Rome.  To  you,  ministers  of  religion,  I  recom- 
mend moderation  and  unity ;  be  yourselves  examples  of 
the  virtues  which  you  preach,  and  abuse  not  your  influ- 
ence over  the  minds  of  my  people.  On  you,  deputies  of 
the  burgesses,  and  the  peasantry,  I  entreat  the  blessing 
of  heaven ;  may  your  industry  be  rewarded  by  a  prosper- 
ous harvest ;  your  stores  plenteously  filled,  and  may  you 
be  crowned  abundantly  with  all  the  blessings  of  this  life. 
For  the  prosperity  of  all  my  subjects,  absent  and  pres- 
ent, I  offer  my  warmest  prayers  to  Heaven.  I  bid  you 
all  a  sincere,  it  may  be,  an  eternal  farewell." 

The  embarkation  of  the  troops  took  place  at  Elfskna- 
ben,  where  the  fleet  lay  at  anchor.  An  immense  con- 
course flocked  thither  to  witness  this  magnificent  specta- 
cle. The  hearts  of  the  spectators  were  agitated  by 
varied  emotions  as  they  alternately  considered  the  vast- 


140  THE   THIRTY  YEARS'   WAR. 

ness  of  the  enterprise  and  the  greatness  of  the  leader. 
Among  the  superior  officers  who  commanded  in  this 
army  were  Gustavus  Horn,  the  Rhinegrave  Otto  Lewis, 
Henry  Matthias,  Count  Thurn,  Ottenburg,  Baudissen, 
Banner,  Teufel,  Tott,  Mutsenfahl,  Falkenberg,  Kniphau- 
sen,  and  other  distinguished  names.  Detained  by  con- 
trary winds,  the  fleet  did  not  sail  till  June,  and  on  the 
24th  of  that  month  reached  the  island  of  Rugen,  in 
Pomerania. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  was  the  first  who  landed.  In  the 
presence  of  his  suite  he  knelt  on  the  shore  of  Germany 
to  return  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  the  safe  arrival  of 
his  fleet  and  his  army.  He  landed  his  troops  on  the 
Island*  of  Wollin  and  Usedom;  upon  his  approach  the 
imperial  garrisons  abandoned  their  intrenchments  and  fled. 
He  advanced  rapidly  on  Stettin,  to  secure  this  important 
place  before  the  appearance  of  the  Imperialists.  Bogis- 
laus  XIV.,  Duke  of  Pomerania,  a  feeble  and  superannu- 
ated prince,  had  been  long  tired  out  by  the  outrages 
committed  by  the  latter  within  his  territories;  but  too 
weak  to  resist  he  had  contented  himself  with  murmurs. 
The  appearance  of  his  deliverer,  instead  of  animating  his 
courage,  increased  his  fear  and  anxiety.  Severely  as  his 
country  had  suffered  from  the  Imperialists,  the  risk  of 
incurring  the  Emperor's  vengeance  prevented  him  from 
declaring  openly  for  the  Swedes.  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
who  was  encamped  under  the  walls  of  the  town,  sum- 
moned the  city  to  receive  a  Swedish  garrison.  Bogislaus 
appeared  in  person  in  the  camp  of  Gustavus  to  deprecate 
this  condition.  "  I  come  to  you,"  said  Gustavus,  "  not  as  an 
enemy  but  a  friend.  I  wage  no  war  against  Pomeranin, 
nor  against  the  German  empire,  but  against  the  enemies 
of  both.  In  my  hands  this  duchy  shall  be  sacred  ;  and  it 
shall  be  restored  to  you  at  the  conclusion  of  the  campaign, 
by  me,  with  more  certainty  than  by  any  other.  Look  to 
the  traces  of  the  imperial  force  within  your  territories, 
and  to  mine  in  Usedom  ;  and  decide  whether  you  will 
have  the  Emperor  or  me  as  your  friend.  What  have  you 
to  expect  if  the  Emperor  should  make  himself  master  of 
your  capital  ?  Will  he  deal  with  you  more  leniently  than 
I?  Or  is  it  your  intention  to  stop  my  progress?  The 


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THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  141 

case  is  pressing ;  decide  at  once,  and  do  not  compel  me  to 
have  recourse  to  more  violent  measures." 

The  alternative  was  a  painful  one.  On  the  one  side, 
the  King  of  Sweden  was  before  his  gates  with  a  formid- 
able army ;  on  the  other,  he  saw  the  inevitable  ven- 
geance of  the  Emperor,  and  the  fearful  example  of  so 
many  German  princes  who  were  now  wandering  in  misery, 
the  victims  of  that  revenge.  The  more  immediate  danger 
decided  his  resolution.  The  gates  of  Stettin  were  opened 
to  the  king;  the  Swedish  troops  entered;  and  the  Aus- 
trians,  who  were  advancing  by  rapid  marches,  anticipated. 
The  capture  of  this  place  procured  for  the  king  a  firm 
footing  in  Pomerania,  the  command  of  the  Oder,  and  a 
magazine  for  his  troops.  To  prevent  a  charge  of  treach- 
ery, Bogislaus  was  careful  to  excuse  this  step  to  the 
Emperor  on  the  plea  of  necessity;  but  aware  of  Ferdi- 
nand's implacable  disposition,  he  entered  into  a  close 
alliance  with  his  new  protector.  By  this  league  with 
Pomerania,  Gustavus  secured  a  powerful  friend  in  Ger- 
many, who  covered  his  rear,  and  maintained  his  com- 
munication with  Sweden. 

As  Ferdinand  was  already  the  aggressor  in  Prussia, 
Gustavus  Adolphus  thought  himself  absolved  from  the 
usual  formalties,  and  commenced  hostilities  without  any 
declaration  of  war.  To  the  other  European  powers  he 
justified  his  conduct  in  a  manifesto,  in  which  he  detailed 
the  grounds  which  had  led  him  to  take  up  arms.  Mean- 
while he  continued  his  progress  in  Pomerania,  while  he 
saw  his  army  daily  increasing.  The  troops  which  had 
fought  under  Mansfeld,  Duke  Christian  of  Brunswick, 
the  King  of  Denmark,  and  Wallenstein  came  in  crowds, 
both  officers  and  soldiers,  to  join  his  victorious  standard. 

At  the  Imperial  court  the  invasion  of  the  King  of 
Sweden  at  first  excited  far  less  attention  than  it  merited. 
The  pride  of  Austria,  extravagantly  elated  by  its  unheard- 
of  successes,  looked  down  with  contempt  upon  a  prince, 
who,  with  a  handful  of  men,  came  from  an  obscure  corner 
of  Europe,  and  who  owed  his  past  successes,  as  they  im- 
agined, entirely  to  the  incapacity  of  a  weak  opponent. 
The  depreciatory  representation  which  Wallenstein  had 
artfully  given  of  the  Swedish  power  increased  the  Em- 


142  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

peror's  security ;  for  what  had  he  to  fear  from  an  enemy 
whom  his  general  undertook  to  drive  with  such  ease 
from  Germany?  Even  the  rapid  progress  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus  in  Pomerania  could  not  entirely  dispel  this 
prejudice,  which  the  mockeries  of  the  courtiers  continued 
to  teed.  He  was  called  in  Vienna  the  Snow  King,  whom 
the  cold  of  the  north  kept  together,  but  who  would 
infallibly  melt  as  he  advanced  southward.  Even  the 
electors,  assembled  in  Ratisbon,  disregarded  his  repre- 
sentations ;  and,  influenced  by  an  abject  complaisance  to 
Ferdinand,  refused  him  even  the  title  of  king.  But  while 
they  mocked  him  in  Ratisbon  and  Vienna,  in  Mecklen- 
burgh  and  Pomerania  one  strong  town  after  another  fell 
into  his  hands. 

Notwithstanding  this  contempt  the  Emperor  thought 
it  proper  to  offer  to  adjust  his  differences  with  Sweden 
by  negotiation,  and  for  that  purpose  sent  plenipotentiaries 
to  Denmark.  But  their  instructions  showed  how  little 
he  was  in  earnest  in  these  proposals,  for  he  still  continued 
to  refuse  to  Gustavus  the  title  of  king.  He  hoped  by 
this  means  to  throw  on  the  King  of  Sweden  the  odium  of 
being  the  aggressor,  and  thereby  to  insure  the  support  of 
the  States  of  the  empire.  The  conference  at  Dantzic 
proved,  as  might  be  expected,  fruitless,  and  the  animosity 
of  both  parties  was  increased  to  its  utmost  by  an  intem- 
perate correspondence. 

An  imperial  general,  Torquato  Coriti,  who  commanded 
in  Pomerania,  had,  in  the  meantime,  made  a  vain  attempt 
to  wrest  Stettin  from  the  Swedes.  The  Imperialists  were 
driven  out  from  one  place  after  another ;  Damm,  Star- 
gard,  Camin,  and  Wolgast,  soon  fell  in  the  hands  of  Gus- 
tavus. To  revenge  himself  upon  the  Duke  of  Pomerania, 
the  imperial  general  permitted  his  troops,  upon  his  re- 
treat, to  exercise  every  barbarity  on  the  unfortunate  in- 
habitants of  Pomerania,  who  had  already  suffered  but  too 
severely  from  his  avarice.  On  pretence  of  cutting  off  the 
resources  of  the  Swedes,  the  whole  country  was  laid 
waste  and  plundered  ;  and  often,  when  the  Imperialists 
were  unable  any  longer  to  maintain  a  place,  it  was  laid  in 
ashes,  in  order  to  leave  the  enemy  nothing  but  ruins. 
But  these  barbarities  only  served  to  place  in  a  more  fa- 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*    WAR.  143 

vorable  light  the  opposite  conduct  of  the  Swedes,  and  to 
win  all  hearts  to  their  humane  monarch.  The  Swedish 
soldier  paid  for  all  he  required ;  no  private  property  was 
injured  on  his  march.  The  Swedes  consequently  were 
received  with  open  arms  both  in  town  and  country,  whilst 
every  Imperialist  that  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Pomeran- 
ian peasantry  was  ruthlessly  murdered.  Many  Pomeran- 
ians entered  into  the  service  of  Sweden,  and  the  estates 
of  this  exhausted  country  willingly  voted  the  king  a  con- 
tribution of  one  hundred  thousand  florins. 

Torquato  Conti,  who,  with  all  his  severity  of  character, 
was  a  consummate  general,  endeavored  to  render  Stettin 
useless  to  the  King  of  Sweden,  as  he  could  not  deprive 
him  of  it.  He  intrenched  himself  upon  the  Oder,  at 
Gratz,  above  Stettin,  in  order,  by  commanding  that  river, 
to  cut  off  the  water  communication  of  the  town  with  the 
rest  of  Germany.  Nothing  could  induce  him  to  attack 
the  King  of  Sweden,  who  was  his  superior  in  numbers, 
while  the  latter  was  equally  cautious  not  to  storm  the 
strong  intrenchments  of  the  Imperialists.  Torquato,  too 
deficient  in  troops  and  money  to  act  upon  the  offensive 
against  the  king,  hoped  by  this  plan  of  operations  to  give 
time  for  Tilly  to  hasten  to  the  defence  of  Pomerania,  and 
then,  in  conjunction  with  that  general,  to  attack  the 
Swedes.  Seizing  the  opportunity  of  the  temporary 
absence  of  Gustavus,  he  made  a  sudden  attempt  upon 
Stettin,  but  the  Swedes  were  not  unprepared  for  him. 
A  vigorous  attack  of  the  Imperialists  was  firmly  repulsed, 
and  Torquato  was  forced  to  retire  with  great  loss.  For 
this  auspicious  commencement  of  the  war,  however,  Gus- 
tavus  was,  it  must  be  owned,  as  much  indebted  to  his 
good  fortune  as  to  his  military  talents.  The  imperial 
troops  in  Pomerania  had  been  greatly  reduced  since  Wal- 
lenstein's  dismissal ;  moreover,  the  outrages  they  had 
committed  were  now  severely  revenged  upon  them ; 
wasted  and  exhausted,  the  country  no  longer  afforded 
them  a  subsistence.  All  discipline  was  at  an  end;  the 
orders  of  the  officers  were  disregarded,  while  their  num- 
bers daily  decreased  by  desertion,  and  by  a  general  mor- 
tality, which  the  piercing  cold  of  a  strange  climate  had 
produced  among  them. 


144  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  imperial  general  was 
anxious  to  allow  his  troops  the  repose  of  winter  quarters, 
but  he  had  to  do  with  an  enemy  to  whom  the  climate  of 
Germany  had  no  winter.  Gustavus  had  taken  the  pre- 
caution of  providing  his  soldiers  with  dresses  of  sheep- 
skin, to  enable  them  to  keep  the  field  even  in  the  most 
inclement  season.  The  imperial  plenipotentiaries,  who 
came  to  treat  with  him  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities, 
received  this  discouraging  answer:  "The  Swedes  are 
soldiers  in  winter  as  well  as  in  summer,  and  not  disposed 
to  oppress  the  unfortunate  peasantry.  The  Imperialists 
may  act  as  they  think  proper,  but  they  need  not  expect 
to  remain  undisturbed."  Torquato  Conti  soon  after 
resigned  a  command  in  which  neither  riches  nor  reputa- 
tion were  to  be  gained. 

In  this  inequality  of  the  two  armies  the  advantage  was 
necessarily  on  the  side  of  the  Swedes.  The  Imperialists 
were  incessantly  harassed  in  their  winter  quarters ; 
Greifenhagen,  an  important  place  upon  the  Oder,  taken 
by  storm,  and  the  towns  of  Grata  and  Piritz  were  at  last 
abandoned  by  the  enemy.  In  the  whole  of  Pomerania 
Griefswald,  Demmin,  and  Colberg  alone  remained  in  their 
hands,  and  these  the  king  made  great  preparations  to 
besiege.  The  enemy  directed  their  retreat  towards 
Brandenburg,  in  which  much  of  their  artillery  and  bag- 
gage, and  many  prisoners  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
pursuers. 

By  seizing  the  passes  of  Riebnitz  and  Damgarden  Gus- 
tavus had  opened  a  passage  into  Mecklenburg,  whose  in- 
habitants were  invited  to  return  to  their  allegiance  under 
their  legitimate  sovereigns,  and  to  expel  the  adherents  of 
Wallenstein.  The  Imperialists,  however,  gained  the  im- 
portant town  of  Rostock  by  stratagem,  and  thus  prevented 
the  farther  advance  of  the  king,  who  was  unwilling  to  di- 
vide the  forces.  The  exiled  dukes  of  Mecklenburgh  had 
ineffectually  employed  the  princes  assembled  at  Ratisbon 
to  intercede  with  the  Emperor  ;  in  vain  they  had  endeav- 
ored to  soften  Ferdinand,  by  renouncing  the  alliance  of 
the  king  and  every  idea  of  resistance.  But,  driven  to  de- 
spair by  the  Emperor's  inflexibility,  they  openly  espoused 
the  side  of  Sweden,  and  raising  troops,  gave  the  command 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  145 

of  them  to  Francis  Charles,  Duke  of  Saxe-Lauenburg. 
That  general  made  himself  master  of  several  strong  places 
on  the  Elbe,  but  lost  them  afterwards  to  the  Imperial  Gen- 
eral Pappenheim,  who  was  despatched  to  oppose  him. 
Soon  afterwards,  besieged  by  the  latter  in  the  town  of 
Ratzeburg,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  with  all  his 
troops.  Thus  ended  the  attempt  which  these  unfortunate 
princes  made  to  recover  their  territories ;  and  it  was  re- 
served for  the  victorious  arm  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  to 
render  them  that  brilliant  service. 

The  Imperialists  had  thrown  themselves  into  Branden- 
burg, which  now  became  the  theatre  of  the  most  barbarous 
atrocities.  These  outrages  were  inflicted  upon  the  sub- 
jects of  a  prince  who  had  never  injured  the  Emperor,  and 
whom,  moreover,  he  was  at  the  very  time  inciting  to  take 
up  arms  against  the  King  of  Sweden.  The  sight  of  the 
disorders  of  their  soldiers,  which  want  of  money  compelled 
them  to  wink  at,  and  of  authority  over  their  troops,  ex- 
cited the  disgust  even  of  the  Imperial  generals,  and,  from 
very  shame,  their  commander-in-chief,  Count  Schaumburg, 
wished  to  resign. 

Without  a  sufficient  force  to  protect  his  territories,  and 
left  by  the  Emperor,  in  spite  of  the  most  pressing  remon- 
strances, without  assistance,  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg 
at  last  issued  an  edict,  ordering  his  subjects  to  repel  force 
by  force,  and  to  put  to  death  without  mercy  every  Impe- 
rial soldier  who  should  henceforth  be  detected  in  plun- 
dering. To  such  a  height  had  the  violence  of  outrage 
and  the  misery  of  the  government  risen  that  nothing  was 
left  to  the  sovereign  but  the  desperate  extremity  of  sanc- 
tioning private  vengeance  by  a  formal  law. 

The  Swedes  had  pursued  the  Imperialists  into  Branden- 
burg ;  and  only  the  Elector's  refusal  to  open  to  him  the 
fortress  of  Custrin  for  his  march  obliged  the  King  to  lay 
aside  his  design  of  besieging  Frankfort  on  the  Oder.  He 
therefore  returned  to  complete  the  conquest  of  Pome- 
rania  by  the  capture  of  Demmin  and  Colberg.  In  the 
meantime,  Field-Marshal  Tilly  was  advancing  to  the  de- 
fence of  Brandenburg. 

This  general,  who  could  boast  as  yet  of  never  having 
suffered  a  defeat ;  the  conqueror  of  Mansfeld,  of  Duke 


146  THE   THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR. 

Christian  of  Brunswick,  of  the  Margrave  of  Baden,  and 
the  King  of  Denmark,  was  now,  in  the  Swedish  monarch, 
to  meet  an  opponent  worthy  of  his  fame.  Descended  of  a 
noble  family  in  Liege,  Tilly  had  formed  his  military  talents 
in  the  wars  of  the  Netherlands,  which  was  then  the  great 
school  for  generals.  He  soon  found  an  opportunity  of 
distinguishing  himself  under  Rodolph  II.  in  Hungary, 
where  he  rapidly  rose  from  one  step  to  another.  After 
the  peace  he  entered  into  the  service  of  Maximilian  of 
Bavarin,  who  made  him  commander-in-chief  with  absolute 
powers.  Here,  by  his  excellent  regulations,  he  was  the 
founder  of  the  Bavarian  army ;  and  to  him,  chiefly,  Maxi- 
milian was  indebted  for  his  superiority  in  the  field.  Upon 
the  termination  of  the  Bohemian  war  he  was  appointed 
commander  of  the  troops  of  the  League ;  and,  after  Wal- 
lenstein's  dismissal,  generalissimo  of  the  Imperial  armies. 
Equally  stern  towards  his  soldiers  and  implacable  towards 
his  enemies,  and  as  gloomy  and  impenetrable  as  Wallen- 
stein,  he  was  greatly  his  superior  in  probity  and  disinter- 
estedness. A  bigoted  zeal  for  religion  and  a  bloody  spirit 
of  persecution  co-operated  with  the  natural  ferocity  of 
his  character  to  make  him  the  terror  of  the  Protestants. 
A  strange  and  terrific  aspect  bespoke  his  character;  of  low 
stature,  thin,  with  hollow  cheeks,  a  long  nose,  a  broad  and 
wrinkled  forehead,  large  whiskers  and  a  pointed  chin;  he 
was  generally  attired  in  a  Spanish  doublet  of  green  satin, 
with  slashed  sleeves,  with  a  small  high-peaked  hat  upon 
his  head,  surmounted  by  a  red  feather,  which  hung  down 
to  his  back.  His  whole  aspect  recalled  to  recollection  the 
Duke  of  Alva,  the  scourge  of  the  Flemings ;  and  his  ac- 
tions were  far  from  effacing  the  impression.  Such  was 
the  general  who  was  now  to  be  opposed  to  the  hero  of 
the  north. 

Tilly  was  far  from  undervaluing  his  antagonist.  "The 
King  of  Sweden,"  said  he,  in  the  Diet  at  Ratisbon,  "  is 
an  enemy  both  prudent  and  brave,  inured  to  war,  and  in 
the  flower  of  his  age.  His  plans  are  excellent,  his  re- 
sources considerable,  his  subjects  enthusiastically  attached 
to  him.  His  army,  composed  of  Swedes,  Germans, 
Livonians,  Finlanders,  Scots,  and  English,  by  its  devoted 
obedience  to  their  leader,  is  blended  into  one  nation  ;  he 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  147 

is  a  gamester  in  playing  with  whom  not  to  have  lost  is  to 
have  won  a  great  deal." 

The  progress  of  the  King  of  Sweden  in  Brandenburg 
and  Pomerania  left  the  new  generalissimo  no  time  to 
lose ;  and  his  presence  was  now  urgently  called  for  by 
those  who  commanded  in  that  quarter.  With  all  expe- 
dition he  collected  the  imperial  troops  which  were  dis- 
persed over  the  empire  ;  but  it  required  time  to  obtain 
from  the  exhausted  and  impoverished  provinces  the 
necessary  supplies.  At  last,  about  the  middle  of  winter, 
he  appeared  at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  men  before 
Frankfort  on  the  Oder,  where  he  was  joined  by  Sehaum- 
burg.  Leaving  to  this  general  the  defence  of  Frankfort, 
with  a  sufficient  garrison,  he  hastened  to  Pomerania  with 
a  view  of  saving  Demrnin  and  relieving  Colberg,  which 
was  already  hard  pressed  by  the  Swedes.  But  even 
before  he  had  left  Brandenburg,  Demmin,  which  was  but 
poorly  defended  by  the  Duke  of  Savelli,  had  surrendered 
to  the  king,  and  Colberg,  after  a  five  months'  siege,  was 
starved  into  a  capitulation.  As  the  passes  in  Upper 
Pomerania  were  well  guarded,  and  the  king's  camp 
near  Schwedt  defied  attack,  Tilly  abandoned  his  offen- 
sive plan  of  operations  and  retreated  towards  the  Elbe  to 
besiege  Magdeburg. 

The  capture  of  Dernmin  opened  to  the  king  a  free 
passage  into  Mecklenburg ;  but  a  more  important  enter- 
prise drew  his  arms  into  another  quarter.  Scarcely  had 
Tilly  commenced  his  retrograde  movement,  when  sud- 
denly breaking  up  his  camp  at  Schwedt,  the  king  marched 
his  whole  force  against  Frankfort  on  the  Oder.  This 
town,  badly  fortified,  was  defended  by  a  garrison  of  eight 
thousand  men,  mostly  composed  of  those  ferocious  bands 
who  had  so  cruelly  ravaged  Pomerania  and  Brandenburg. 
It  was  now  attacked  with  such  impetuosity  that  on  the 
third  day  it  was  taken  by  storm.  The  Swedes,  assured  of 
victory,  rejected  every  offer  of  capitulation,  as  they 
were  resolved  to  exercise  the  dreadful  right  of  retaliation. 
For  Tilly,  soon  after  his  arrival,  had  surrounded  a  Swed- 
ish detachment,  and,  irritated  by  their  obstinate  resist- 
ance, had  cut  them  in  pieces  to  a  man.  This  cruelty  was 
not  forgotten  by  the  Swedes.  "New  Brandenburg 


148  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

Quarter,"  they  replied  to  the  Imperialists  who  begged 
their  lives,  and  slaughtered  them  without  mercy.  Several 
thousands  were  either  killed  or  taken,  and  many  were 
drowned  in  the  Oder;  the  rest  fled  to  Silesia.  All  their 
artillery  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes.  To  satisfy 
the  rage  of  his  troops  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  under  the 
necessity  of  giving  up  the  town  for  three  hours  to 
plunder. 

While  the  king  was  thus  advancing  from  one  conquest 
to  another,  and  by  his  success  encouraging  the  Protest- 
ants to  active  resistance,  the  Emperor  proceeded  to 
enforce  the  Edict  of  Restitution,  and  by  his  exorbitant 
pretensions  to  exhaust  the  patience  of  the  states.  Com- 
pelled by  necessity,  he  continued  the  violent  course 
which  he  had  begun  with  such  arrogant  confidence  ;  the 
difficulties  into  which  his  arbitrary  conduct  had  plunged 
him  he  could  only  extricate  himself  from  by  measures 
still  more  arbitrary.  But  in  so  complicated  a  body  as 
the  German  empire  despotism  must  always  create  the 
most  dangerous  convulsions.  With  astonishment  the 
princes  beheld  the  constitution  of  the  empire  overthrown, 
and  the  state  of  nature  to  which  matters  were  again 
verging,  suggested  to  them  the  idea  of  self-defence,  the 
only  means  of  protection  in  such  a  state  of  things.  The 
steps  openly  taken  by  the  Emperor  against  the  Lutheran 
church  had  at  last  removed  the  veil  from  the  eyes  of 
John  George,  who  had  been  so  long  the  dupe  of  his 
artful  policy.  Ferdinand,  too,  had  personally  offended 
him  by  the  exclusion  of  his  son  from  the  archbishopric 
of  Magdeburg ;  and  field-marshal  Arnheim,  his  new  favor- 
ite and  minister,  spared  no  pains  to  increase  the  resent- 
ment of  his  master.  Arnheim  had  formerly  been  an 
imperial  general  under  Wallenstein,  and  being  still  zeal- 
ously attached  to  him,  he  was  eager  to  avenge  his  old 
benefactor  and  himself  on  the  Emperor  by  detaching 
Saxony  from  the  Austrian  interests.  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
supported  by  the  Protestant  states,  would  be  invincible ; 
a  consideration  which  already  filled  the  Emperor  with 
alarm.  The  example  of  Saxony  would  probably  influ- 
ence others,  and  the  Emperor's  fate  seemed  now  in  a 
manner  to  depend  upon  the  Elector's  decision.  The 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  149 

artful  favorite  impressed  upon  his  master  this  idea  of  his 
own  importance,  and  advised  him  to  terrify  the  Emperor 
by  threatening  an  alliance  with  Sweden,  and  thus  to 
extort  from  his  fears  what  he  had  sought  in  vain  from  his 
gratitude.  The  favorite,  however,  was  far  from  wishing 
him  actually  to  enter  into  the  Swedish  alliance,  but,  by 
holding  aloof  from  both  parties,  to  maintain  his  own 
importance  and  independence.  Accordingly  he  laid  be- 
fore him  a  plan  which  only  wanted  a  more  able  hand  to 
carry  it  into  execution,  and  recommended  him,  by  head- 
ing the  Protestant  paVty,  to  erect  a  third  power  in  Ger- 
many, and  thereby  maintain  the  balance  between  Sweden 
and  Austria. 

This  project  was  peculiarly  flattering  to  the  Saxon 
Elector,  to  whom  the  idea  of  being  dependent  on  Sweden, 
or  of  longer  submitting  to  the  tyranny  of  the  Emperor, 
was  equally  hateful.  He  could  not,  with  indifference, 
see  the  control  of  German  affairs  wrested  from  him  by  a 
foreign  prince ;  and  incapable  as  he  was  of  taking  a  prin- 
cipal part,  his  vanity  would  not  condescend  to  act  a 
subordinate  one.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to  draw  every 
possible  advantage  from  the  progress  of  Gustavus,  but  to 
pursue,  independently,  his  own  separate  plans.  With 
this  view,  he  consulted  with  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
who,  from  similar  causes,  was  ready  to  act  against  the 
Emperor,  but,  at  the  same  time,  was  jealous  of  Sweden. 
In  a  Diet  at  Torgau,  having  assured  himself  of  the  sup- 
port of  his  Estates,  he  invited  the  Protestant  States  of 
the  empire  to  a  general  convention,  which  took  place  at 
Leipzig  on  the  6th  February,  1631.  Brandenburg,  Hesse 
Cassel,  with  several  princes,  counts,  estates  of  the  empire, 
and  Protestant  bishops  were  present,  either  personally  or 
by  deputy,  at  this  assembly,  which  the  chaplain  to  the 
court,  Dr.  Hoe  von  Hohenegg,  opened  with  a  vehement 
discourse  from  the  pulpit.  The  Emperor  had  in  vain 
endeavored  to  prevent  this  self-appointed  convention, 
whose  object  was  evidently  to  provide  for  its  own  de- 
fence, and  which  the  presence  of  the  Swedes  in  the  empire 
rendered  more  than  usually  alarming.  Emboldened  by 
the  progress  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  the  assembled  princes 
asserted  their  rights,  and  after  a  session  of  two  months 


150  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

broke  up  with  adopting  a  resolution  which  placed  the 
Emperor  in  no  slight  embarrassment.  Its  import  was 
to  demand  of  the  Emperor,  in  a  general  address,  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Restitution,  the  withdrawal 
of  his  troops  from  their  capitals  and  fortresses,  the 
suspension  of  all  existing  proceedings,  and  the  aboli- 
tion of  abuses ;  and,  in  the  meantime,  to  raise  an  army 
of  forty  thousand  men  to  enable  them  to  redress  their 
own  grievances  if  the  Emperor  should  still  refuse  satis- 
faction. 

A  further  incident  contributed  not  a  little  to  increase 
the  firmness  of  the  Protestant  princes.  The  King  of 
Sweden  had  at  last  overcome  the  scruples  which  had 
deterred  him  from  a  closer  alliance  with  France,  and,  on 
the  13th  January,  1631,  concluded  a  formal  treaty  with 
this  crown.  After  a  serious  dispute  respecting  the  treat- 
ment of  the  Roman  Catholic  princes  of  the  empire, 
whom  France  took  under  her  protection,  and  against 
whom  Gustavus  claimed  the  right  of  retaliation,  and 
after  some  less  important  differences  with  regard  to  the 
title  of  majesty,  which  the  pride  of  France  was  loth  to 
concede  to  the -King  of  Sweden,  Richelieu  yielded  the 
second,  and  Gustavus  Adolphus  the  first  point,  and  the 
treaty  was  signed  at  Beerwald,  in  Neumark.  The  con- 
tracting parties  mutually  covenanted  to  defend  each  other 
with  a  military  force,  to  protect  their  common  friends,  to 
restore  to  their  dominions  the  deposed  princes  of  the  em- 
pire, and  to  replace  everything,  both  on  the  frontier  and 
in  the  interior  of  Germany,  on  the  same  footing  on  which 
it  stood  before  the  commencment  of  the  war.  For  this 
end  Sweden  engaged  to  maintain  an  army  of  thirty  thou- 
sand men  in  Germany,  and  France  agreed  to  furnish  the 
Swedes  with  an  annual  subsidy  of  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  If  the  arms  of  Gustavus  were  successful  he 
was  to  respect  the  Catholic  religion  and  the  constitution 
of  the  empire  in  all  the  conquered  places,  and  to  make 
no  attempt  against  either.  All  Estates  and  princes, 
whether  Protestant  or  Roman  Catholic,  either  in  Ger- 
many or  in  other  countries,  were  to  be  invited  to  become 
parties  to  the  treaty ;  neither  France  nor  Sweden  was  to 
conclude  a  separate  peace  without  the  knowledge  and 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  151 

consent  of  the  other ;  and  the  treaty  itself  was  to  con- 
tinue in  force  for  five  years. 

Great  as  was  the  struggle  to  the  King  of  Sweden  to  re- 
ceive subsidies  from  France,  and  sacrifice  his  independ- 
ence in  the  conduct  of  the  war,  this  alliance  with  France 
decided  his  cause  in  Germany.  Protected  as  he  now  was  by 
the  greatest  power  in  Europe,  the  German  states  began 
to  feel  confidence  in  his  undertaking,  for  the  issue  of 
which  they  had  hitherto  good  reason  to  tremble.  He 
became  truly  formidable  to  the  Emperor.  The  Roman 
Catholic  princes,  too,  who,  though  they  were  anxious  to 
humble  Austria,  had  witnessed  his  progress  with  distrust, 
were  less  alarmed  now  that  an  alliance  with  a  Roman 
Catholic  power  insured  his  respect  for  their  religion. 
And  thus,  while  Gustavus  Adolphus  protected  the  Prot- 
estant religion  and  the  liberties  of  Germany  against  the 
aggression  of  Ferdinand,  France  secured  those  liberties, 
and  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  against  Gustavus  him- 
self, if  the  intoxication  of  success  should  hurry  him  be- 
yond the  bounds  of  moderation. 

The  King  of  Sweden  lost  no  time  in  apprizing  the 
members  of  the  confederacy  of  Leipzig  of  the  treaty  con- 
cluded with  France,  and  inviting  them  to  a  closer  union 
with  himself.  The  application  was  seconded  by  France, 
who  spared  no  pains  to  win  over  the  Elector  of  Saxony. 
Gustavus  was  willing  to  be  content  with  secret  support, 
if  the  princes  should  deem  it  too  bold  a  step  as  yet  to  de- 
clare openly  in  his  favor.  Several  princes  gave  him  hopes 
of  his  proposals  being  accepted  on  the  first  favorable 
opportunity;  but  the  Saxcn  Elector,  full  of  jealousy  and 
distrust  towards  the  King  of  Sweden,  and  true  to  the 
selfish  policy  he  had  pursued,  could  not  be  prevailed  upon 
to  give  a  decisive  answer. 

The  resolution  of  the  confederacy  of  Leipzig,  and  the 
alliance  betwixt  France  and  Sweden,  were  news  equally 
disagreeable  to  the  Emperor.  Against  them  he  employed 
the  thunder  of  imperial  ordinances,  and  the  want  of  an 
army  saved  France  from  the  full  weight  of  his  displeasure. 
Remonstrances  were  addressed  to  all  the  members  of  the 
confederacy,  strongly  prohibiting  them  from  enlisting 
troops.  They  retorted  with  explanations  equally  vehe- 


152  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

ment,  justified  their  conduct  upon  the  principles  of  natural 
right,  and  continued  their  preparations. 

Meantime,  the  imperial  generals,  deficient  both  in 
troops  and  money,  found  themselves  reduced  to  the  dis- 
agreeable alternative  of  losing  sight  either  of  the  King  of 
Sweden,  or  of  the  Estates  of  the  empire,  since  with  a 
divided  force  they  were  not  a  match  for  either.  The 
movements  of  the  Protestants  called  their  attention  to 
the  interior  of  the  empire,  while  the  ]  rogress  of  the  king 
in  Brandenburg,  by  threatening  the  hereditary  possessions 
of  Austria,  required  them  to  turn  their  arms  to  that  quar- 
ter. After  the  conquest  of  Frankfort,  the  king  had 
advanced  upon  Landsberg  on  the  Warta,  and  Tilly,  after 
a  fruitless  attempt  to  relieve  it,  had  again  returned  to 
Magdeburg,  to  prosecute  with  vigor  the  siege  of  that 
town. 

The  rich  archbishopric,  of  which  Magdeburg  was  the 
capital,  had  long  been  in  the  possession  of  princes  of  the 
house  of  Brandenburg,  who  introduced  the  Protestant 
religion  into  the  province.  Christian  William,  the  last 
administrator,  had,  by  his  alliance  with  Denmark,  incurred 
the  ban  of  the  empire,  on  which  account  the  chapter,  to 
avoid  the  Emperor's  displeasure,  had  formally  deposed 
him.  In  his  place  they  had  elected  Prince  John  Augus- 
tus, the  second  son  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  whom  the 
Emperor  rejected,  in  order  to  confer  the  archbishopric  on 
his  son  Leopold.  The  Elector  of  Saxony  complained 
ineffectually  to  the  imperial  court ;  but  Christian  William 
of  Brandenburg  took  more  active  measures.  Relying  on 
the  attachment  of  the  magistracy  and  inhabitants  of 
Brandenburg,  and  excited  by  chimerical  hopes,  he  thought 
himself  able  to  surmount  all  the  obstacles  which  the  vote 
of  the  chapter,  the  competition  of  two  powerful  rivals, 
and  the  Edict  of  Restitution  opposed  to  his  restoration. 
He  went  to  Sweden,  and,  by  the  promise  of  a  diversion 
in  Germany,  sought  to  obtain  assistance  from  Gustavus. 
He  was  dismissed  by  that  monarch  not  without  hopes 
of  effectual  protection,  but  with  the  advice  to  act  with 
caution. 

Scarcely  had  Christian  William  been  informed  of  the 
landing  of  his  protector  in  Pomerania  than  he  entered 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  153 

Magdeburg  in  disguise.  Appearing  suddenly  in  the  town 
council,  he  reminded  the  magistrates  of  the  ravages 
which  both  town  and  country  had  suffered  fror.i  the  im- 
perial troops,  of  the  pernicious  designs  of  Ferdinand,  and 
the  danger  of  the  Protestant  church.  He  then  informed 
them  that  the  moment  of  deliverance  was  at  hand,  and 
that  Gustavus  Adolphus  offered  them  his  alliance  and 
assistance.  Magdeburg,  one  of  the  most  flourishing 
towns  in  Germany,  enjoyed  under  the  government  of  its 
magistrates  a  republican  freedom,  which  inspired  its  citi- 
zens with  a  brave  heroism.  Of  this  they  had  already  given 
proofs,  in  the  bold  defence  of  their  rights  against  Wallen- 
8tein,who,  tempted  by  their  wealth,  made  on  them  the  most 
extravagant  demands.  Their  territory  had  been  given 
up  to  the  fury  of  his  troops,  though  Magdeburg  itself  had 
escaped  his  vengeance.  It  was  not  difficult,  therefore, 
for  the  Administrator  to  gain  the  concurrence  of  men  in 
whose  minds  the  remembrance  of  these  outrages  was  still 
recent.  An  alliance  was  formed  between  the  city  and 
the  Swedish  king,  by  which  Magdeburg  granted  to  the 
king  a  free  passage  through  its  gates  and  territories,  with 
liberty  of  enlisting  soldiers  within  its  boundaries,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  obtained  promises  of  effectual  protection 
for  its  religion  and  its  privileges. 

The  Administrator  immediately  collected  troops  and 
commenced  hostilities,  before  Gustavus  Adolphus  was 
near  enough  to  co-operate  with  him.  He  defeated  some 
imperial  detachments  in  the  neighborhood,  made  a  few 
conquests,  and  even  surprised  Halle.  But  the  approach 
of  an  imperial  army  obliged  him  to  retreat  hastily,  and 
not  without  loss,  to  Magdeburg.  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
though  displeased  with  his  premature  measures,  sent 
Dietrich  Falkenberg,  an  experienced  officer,  to  direct  the 
Administrator's  military  operations,  and  to  assist  him 
with  his  counsel.  Falkenberg  was  named  by  the  magis- 
trates governor  of  the  town  during  the  war.  The  Prince's 
army  was  daily  augmented  by  recruits  from  the  neigh- 
boring towns ;  and  he  was  able  for  some  months  to  main- 
tain a  petty  warfare  with  success. 

At  length  Count  Pappenheim,  having  brought  his  expe- 
dition against  the  Duke  of  Saxe-Lauenburg  to  a  close, 


154  THE   THIRTY   YEARS*  WAR. 

approached  the  town.  Driving  the  troops  of  the  Admin- 
istrator from  their  entrenchments,  he  cut  off  his  commun- 
ication with  Saxony,  and  closely  invested  the  place.  He 
was  soon  followed  by  Tilly,  who  haughtily  summoned  the 
Elector  forthwith  to  comply  with  the  Edict  of  Restitution, 
to  submit  to  the  Emperor's  orders,  and  surrender  Magde- 
burg. The  Prince's  answer  was  spirited  and  resolute,  and 
obliged  Tilly  at  once  to  have  recourse  to  arms. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  siege  was  prolonged,  by  the  pro- 
gress of  the  King  of  Sweden,  which  called  the  Austrian 
general  from  before  the  place;  and  the  jealousy  of  the 
officers  who  conducted  the  operations  in  his  absence 
delayed  for  some  months  the  fall  of  Magdeburg.  On  the 
30th  March,  1631,  Tilly  returned,  to  push  the  siege  with 
vigor. 

The  outworks  were  soon  carried,  and  Falkenberg,  after 
withdrawing  the  garrisons  from  the  points  which  he  could 
no  longer  hold,  destroyed  the  bridge  over  the  Elbe.  As 
his  troops  were  barely  sufficient  to  defend  the  extensive 
fortifications,  the  suburbs  of  Sudenburg  and  Neustadt 
were  abandoned  to  the  enemy,  who  immediately  laid 
them  in  ashes.  Pappenheim,  now  separated  from  Tilly, 
crossed  the  Elbe  at  Schonenbeck,  and  attacked  the  town 
from  the  opposite  side. 

The  garrison,  reduced  by  the  defence  of  the  outworks, 
scarcely  exceeded  two  thousand  infantry  and  a  few 
hundred  horse ;  a  small  number  for  so  extensive  and 
irregular  a  fortress.  To  supply  this  deficiency,  the  citi- 
zens were  armed,  a  desperate  expedient,  which  produced 
more  evils  than  those  it  prevented.  The  citizens,  at  best 
but  indifferent  soldiers,  by  their  disunion  threw  the  town 
into  confusion.  The  poor  complained  that  they  were 
exposed  to  every  hardship  and  danger,  while  the  rich,  by 
hiring  substitutes,  remained  at  home  in  safety.  These 
rumors  broke  out  at  last  in  an  open  mutiny  ;  indifference 
succeeded  to  zeal;  weariness  and  negligence  took  the 
place  of  vigilance  and  foresight.  Dissension,  combined 
with  growing  scarcity,  gradually  produced  a  feeling  of 
despondency  ;  many  began  to  tremble  at  the  desperate 
nature  of  their  undertaking,  and  the  magnitude  of  the 
power  to  which  they  were  opposed.  But  religious  zeal, 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  155 

an  ardent  love  of  liberty,  an  invincible  hatred  to  the 
Austrian  yoke,  and  the  expectation  of  speedy  relief,  ban- 
ished as  yet  the  idea  of  a  surrender;  and,  divided  as  they 
were  in  everything  else,  they  were  united  in  the  resolve 
to  defend  themselves  to  the  last  extremity. 

Their  hopes  of  succor  were  apparently  well  founded. 
They  knew  that  the  confederacy  of  Leipzig  was  arming ; 
they  were  aware  of  the  near  approach  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus.  Both  were  alike  interested  in  the  preservation 
of  Magdeburg;  and  a  few  days  might  bring  the  King  of 
Sweden  before  its  walls.  All  this  was  also  known  to 
Tilly,  who,  therefore,  was  anxious  to  make  himself  speed- 
ily master  of  the  place.  With  this  view  he  had  despatched 
a  trumpeter  with  letters  to  the  Administrator,  the  com- 
mandant, and  the  magistrates,  offering  terms  of  capitu- 
lation ;  but  he  received  for  answer,  that  they  would 
rather  die  than  surrender.  A  spirited  sally  of  the  citizens 
also  convinced  him  that  their  courage  was  as  earnest  as 
their  words,  while  the  king's  arrival  at  Potsdam,  with  the 
incursions  of  the  Swedes  as  far  as  Zerbst,  filled  him  with 
uneasiness,  but  raised  the  hopes  of  the  garrison.  A 
second  trumpeter  was  now  despatched ;  but  the  more 
moderate  tone  of  his  demands  increased  the  confidence 
of  the  besieged,  and  unfortunately  their  negligence  also. 

The  besiegers  had  now  pushed  their  approaches  as  far  as 
the  ditch,  and  vigorously  cannonaded  the  fortifications 
from  the  abandoned  batteries.  One  tower  was  entirely 
overthrown,  but  this  did  not  facilitate  an  assault,  as  it 
fell  sidewise  upon  the  wall,  and  not  into  the  ditch. 
Notwithstanding  the  continual  bombardment  the  walls 
had  not  suffered  much ;  and  the  fire  balls,  which  were 
intended  to  set  the  town  in  flames,  were  deprived  of 
their  effect  by  the  excellent  precautions  adopted  against 
them.  But  the  ammunition  of  the  besieged  was  nearly 
expended,  and  the  cannon  of  the  town  gradually  ceased 
to  answer  the  fire  of  the  Imperialists.  Before  a  new 
supply  could  be  obtained  Magdeburg  would  be  either 
relieved  or  taken.  The  hopes  of  the  besieged  were  on 
the  stretch,  and  all  eyes  anxiously  directed  towards  the 
quarter  in  which  the  Swedish  banners  were  expected  to 
appear.  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  near  enough  to  reacli 


156  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR. 

Magdeburg  within  three  days ;  security  grew  with  hope, 
which  all  things  contributed  to  augment.  On  the  9th  of 
May,  the  fire  of  the  Imperialists  was  suddenly  stopped, 
and  the  cannon  withdrawn  from  several  of  the  batteries. 
A  deathlike  stillness  reigned  in  the  Imperial  camp.  The 
besieged  were  convinced  that  deliverance  was  at  hand. 
Both  citizens  and  soldiers  left  their  posts  upon  the 
ramparts  early  in  the  morning  to  indulge  themselves, 
after  their  long  toils,  with  the  refreshment  of  sleep,  but 
it  was  indeed  a  dear  sleep,  and  a  frightful  awakening. 

Tilly  had  abandoned  the  hope  of  taking  the  town, 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Swedes,  by  the  means  which  he 
had  hitherto  adopted  ;  he  therefore  determined  to  raise 
the  siege,  but  first  to  hazard  a  general  assault.  This 
plan,  however,  was  attended  with  great  difficulties,  as  no 
breach  had  been  effected,  and  the  works  were  scarcely 
injured.  But  the  council  of  war  assembled  on  this  occa- 
sion declared  for  an  assault,  citing  the  example  of  Maes- 
tricht,  which  had  been  taken  early  in  the  morning,  while 
the  citizens  and  soldiers  were  reposing  themselves.  The 
attack  was  to  be  made  simultaneously  on  four  points; 
the  night  betwixt  the  9th  and  10th  of  May  was  employed 
in  the  neccessary  preparations.  Everything  was  ready 
and  awaiting  the  signal,  which  was  to  be  given  by  cannon 
at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  signal,  however,  was 
not  given  for  two  hours  later,  during  which  Tilly,  who 
was  still  doubtful  of  success,  again  consulted  the  council 
of  war.  Pappenheim  was  ordered  to  attack  the  works 
of  the  new  town,  where  the  attempt  was  favored  by  a 
sloping  rampart,  and  a  dry  ditch  of  moderate  depth. 
The  citizens  and  soldiers  had  mostly  left  the  walls,  and 
the  few  who  remained  were  overcome  with  sleep.  This 
general,  therefore,  found  little  difficulty  in  mounting  the 
wall  at  the  head  of  his  troops. 

Falkenberg,  roused  by  the  report  of  musketry,  hastened 
from  the  town-house,  where  he  was  employed  in  despatch- 
ing Tilly's  second  trumpeter,  and  hurried  with  all  the 
force  he  could  hastily  assemble  towards  the  gate  of  the 
new  town,  which  was  already  in  the  possession  of  the 
enemy.  Beaten  back,  this  intrepid  general  flew  to 
another  quarter,  where  a  second  party  of  the  enemy  were 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  157 

preparing  to  scale  the  walls.  After  an  ineffectual  resist- 
ance he  fell  in  the  commencement  of  the  action.  The 
roaring  of  musketry,  the  pealing  of  the  alarm-bells,  and 
the  growing  tumult  apprised  the  awakening  citizens  of 
their  danger.  Hastily  arming  themselves,  they  rushed 
in  blind  confusion  against  the  enemy.  Still  some  hope 
of  repulsing  the  besiegers  remained  ;  but  the  governor 
being  killed,  their  efforts  were  without  plan  and  co-opera- 
tion, and  at  last  their  ammunition  began  to  fail  them. 
In  the  meanwhile,  two  other  gates,  hitherto  unattacked, 
were  stripped  of  their  defenders,  to  meet  the  urgent 
danger  within  the  town.  The  enemy  quickly  availed 
themselves  of  this  confusion  to  attack  these  posts.  The 
resistance  was  nevertheless  spirited  and  obstinate,  until 
four  imperial  regiments,  at  length,  masters  of  the  ram- 
parts, fell  upon  the  garrison  in  the  rear,  and  completed 
their  rout.  Amidst  the  general  tumult,  a  brave  captain, 
named  Schmidt,  who  still  headed  a  few  of  the  more  reso- 
lute against  the  enemy,  succeeded  in  driving  them  to  the 
gates ;  here  he  fell  mortally  wounded,  and  with  him 
expired  the  hopes  of  Magdeburg.  Before  noon  all  the 
works  were  carried,  and  the  town  was  in  the  enemy's 
hands. 

Two  gates  were  now  opened  by  the  storming-party  for 
the  main  body,  and  Tilly  marched  in  with  part  of  his  in- 
fantry. Immediately  occupying  the  principal  streets,  he 
drove  the  citizens  with  pointed  cannon  into  their  dwell- 
ings, there  to  await  their  destiny.  They  were  not  long 
held  in  suspense ;  a  word  from  Tilly  decided  the  fate  of 
Magdeburg. 

Even  a  more  humane  general  would  in  vain  have 
recommended  mercy  to  such  soldiers;  but  Tilly  never 
made  the  attempt.  Left  by  their  general's  silence  mas- 
ters of  the  lives  of  all  the  citizens,  the  soldiery  broke 
into  the  houses  to  satiate  their  most  brutal  appetites. 
The  prayers  of  innocence  excited  some  compassion  in  the 
hearts  of  the  Germans,  but  none  in  the  rude  breasts  of 
Pappenheim's  Walloons.  Scarcely  had  the  savage  cruelty 
commenced  when  the  other  gates  were  thrown  open,  and 
the  cavalry,  with  the  fearful  hordes  of  the  Croats,  poured 
in  upon  the  devoted  inhabitants. 


158  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

Here  commenced  a  scene  of  horrors  for  which  history 
has  no  language,  poetry  no  pencil.  Neither  innocent 
childhood,  nor  helpless  old  age ;  neither  youth,  sex,  rank, 
nor  beauty  could  disarm  the  fury  of  the  conquerors. 
Wives  were  abused  in  the  arms  of  their  husbands, 
daughters  at  the  feet  of  their  parents ;  and  the  defence- 
less sex  exposed  to  the  double  sacrifice  of  virtue  and  life. 
No  situation,  however  obscure,  or  however  sacred,  escaped 
the  rapacity  of  the  enemy.  In  a  single  church  fifty-three 
women  were  found  beheaded.  The  Croats  amused 
themselves  with  throwing  children  into  the  flames  ;  Pap- 
penheim's  Walloons  with  stabbing  infants  at  the  mother's 
breast.  Some  officers  of  the  League,  horror-struck  at 
this  dreadful  scene,  ventured  to  remind  Tilly  that  he  had 
it  in  his  power  to  stop  the  carnage.  "  Return  in  an  hour," 
was  his  answer ;  "  I  will  see  what  I  can  do  ;  the  soldier 
must  have  some  reward  for  his  dangers  and  toils."  These 
horrors  lasted  with  unabated  fury,  till  at  last  the  smoke 
and  flames  proved  a  check  to  the  plunderers.  To  aug- 
ment the  confusion,  and  to  divert  the  resistance  of  the 
inhabitants,  the  imperialists  had,  in  the  commencement  of 
the  assault,  fired  the  town  in  several  places.  The  wind 
rising  rapidly,  spread  the  flames,  till  the  blaze  became 
universal.  Fearful,  indeed,  was  the  tumult  amid  clouds 
of  smoke,  heaps  of  dead  bodies,  the  clash  of  swords,  the 
crash  of  falling  ruins,  and  streams  of  blood.  The  atmos- 
phere glowed  ;  and  the  intolerable  heat  forced  at  last 
even  the  murderers  to  take  refuge  in  their  camp.  In  less 
than  twelve  hours  this  strong,  populous,  and  flourishing 
city,  one  of  the  finest  in  Germany,  was  reduced  to  ashes, 
with  the  exception  of  two  churches  and  a  few  houses. 
The  Administrator,  Christian  William,  after  receiving 
several  wounds,  was  taken  prisoner,  with  three  of  the 
burgomasters ;  most  of  the  officers  and  magistrates  had 
already  met  an  enviable  death.  The  avarice  of  the  officers 
had  saved  four  hundred  of  the  richest  citizens  in  the  hope 
of  extorting  from  them  an  exorbitant  ransom.  But  this 
humanity  was  confined  to  the  officers  of  the  League, 
whom  the  ruthless  barbarity  of  the  Imperialists  caused  to 
be  regarded  as  guardian  angels. 

Scarcely  had  the  fury  of  the  flames  abated  when  the 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS*    WAR.  159 

Imperialists  returned  to  renew  the  pillage  amid  the  ruins 
and  ashes  of  the  town.  Many  were  suffocated  by  the 
smoke ;  many  found  rich  booty  in  the  cellars,  where  the 
citizens  had  concealed  their  more  valuable  effects.  On 
the  13th  of  May  Tilly  himself  appeared  in  the  town, 
after  the  streets  had  been  cleared  of  ashes  and  dead 
bodies.  Horrible  and  revolting  to  humanity  was  the 
scene  that  presented  itself.  The  living  crawling  from 
under  the  dead,  children  wandering  about  with  heart- 
rending cries,  calling  for  their  parents  ;  and  infants  still 
sucking  the  breasts  of  their  lifeless  mothers.  More  than 
six  thousand  bodies  were  thrown  into  the  Elbe  to  clear 
the  streets ;  a  much  greater  number  had  been  consumed 
by  the  flames.  The  whole  number  of  the  slain  was  reck- 
oned at  not  less  than  thirty  thousand. 

The  entrance  of  the  general,  which  took  place  on  the 
14th,  put  a  stop  to  the  plunder,  and  saved  the  few  who 
had  hitherto  contrived  to  escape.  About  a  thousand 
people  were  taken  out  of  the  cathedral,  where  they  had 
remained  three  days  and  two  nights  without  food,  and  in 
momentary  fear  of  death.  Tilly  promised  them  quarter, 
and  commanded  bread  to  be  distributed  among  them. 
The  next  day  a  solemn  mass  was  performed  in  the  cathe- 
dral, and  Te  Deum  sung  amidst  the  discharge  of  artillery. 
The  imperial  general  rode  through  the  streets,  that  he 
might  be  able  as  an  eye-witness  to  inform  his  master  that 
no  such  conquest  had  been  made  since  the  destruction  of 
Troy  and  Jerusalem.  Nor  was  this  an  exaggeration, 
whether  we  consider  the  greatness,  importance,  and  pros- 
perity of  the  city  razed,  or  the  fury  of  its  ravagers. 

In  Germany  the  tidings  of  the  dreadful  fate  of  Magde- 
burg caused  triumphant  joy  to  the  Roman  Catholics, 
while  it  spread  terror  and  consternation  among  the  Prot- 
estants. Loudly  and  generally  they  complained  against 
the  King  of  Sweden,  who,  with  so  strong  a  force,  and  in 
the  very  neighborhood,  had  left  an  allied  city  to  its  fate. 
Even  the  most  reasonable  deemed  his  inaction  inexplicable  ; 
and  lest  he  should  lose  irretrievably  the  good-will  of  the 
people,  for  whose  deliverance  he  had  engaged  in  this  war, 
Gustavus  was  under  the  necessity  of  publishing  to  the 
world  a  justification  of  his  own  conduct. 


160  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'  WAR. 

He  had  attacked,  and  on  the  16th  April,  carried  Lands- 
berg,  when  ht  was  apprised  of  the  danger  of  Magdeburg. 
He  resolved  immediately  to  march  to  the  relief  of  that 
town ;  and  he  moved  with  all  his  cavalry,  and  ten  regi- 
ments of  infantry  towards  the  Spree.  But  the  position 
which  he  held  in  Germany  made  it  necessary  that  he 
should  not  move  forward  without  securing  his  rear.  In 
traversing  a  country  where  he  was  surrounded  by  sus- 
picious friends  and  dangerous  enemies,  and  where  a  single 
premature  movement  might  cut  off  his  communication 
with  his  own  kingdom,  the  utmost  vigilance  and  caution 
were  necessary.  The  Elector  of  Brandenburg  had  already 
opened  the  fortress  of  Custrin  to  the  flying  Imperialists, 
and  closed  the  gates  against  their  pursuers.  If  now  Gus- 
tavus  should  fail  in  his  attack  upon  Tilly  the  Elector 
might  again  open  his  fortresses  to  the  Imperialists,  and 
the  king,  with  an  enemy  both  in  front  and  rear,  would  be 
irrecoverably  lost.  In  order  to  prevent  this  contingency 
he  demanded  that  the  Elector  should  allow  him  to  hold 
the  fortresses  of  Custrin  and  Spandau  till  the  siege  of 
Magdeburg  should  be  raised. 

Nothing  could  be  rnoi-e  reasonable  than  this  demand. 
The  services  which  Gustavus  had  lately  rendered  the 
Elector,  by  expelling  the  Imperialists  from  Brandenburg, 
claimed  his  gratitude,  while  the  past  conduct  of  the 
Swedes  in  Germany  entitled  them  to  confidence.  But  by 
the  surrender  of  his  fortresses,  the  Elector  would  in  some 
measure  make  the  King  of  Sweden  master  of  his  country  ; 
besides  that,  by  such  a  step,  he  must  at  once  break  with 
the  Emperor,  and  expose  his  States  to  his  future  ven- 
geance. The  Elector's  struggle  with  himself  was  long 
and  violent,  pusillanimity  and  self-interest  for  awhile  pre- 
vailed. Unmoved  by  the  fate  of  Magdeburg,  cold  in  the 
cause  of  religion  and  the  liberties  of  Germany,  he  saw 
nothing  but  his  own  danger;  and  this  anxiety  was  greatly 
stimulated  by  his  minister  Van  Schwartzenburgh,  who  was 
secretly  in  the  pay  of  Austria.  In  the  meantime  the 
Swedish  troops  approached  Berlin,  and  the  king  took  up 
his  residence  with  the  Elector.  When  he  witnessed  the 
timorous  hesitation  of  that  prince,  he  could  not  restrain 
his  indignation  :  "  My  road  is  to  Magdeburg,"  said  he ; 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAE.  161 

"  not  for  ray. own  advantage,  but  for  that  of  the  Protestant 
religion.  If  no  one  will  stand  by  me  I  shall  immediately 
retreat,  conclude  a  peace  with  the  Emperor,  and  return  to 
Stockholm.  I  am  convinced  that  Ferdinand  will  readily 
grant  me  whatever  conditions  I  may  require.  But  if 
Magdeburg  is  once  lost,  and  the  Emperor  relieved  from 
all  fear  of  me,  then  it  is  for  you  to  look  to' yourselves  and 
the  consequences."  This  timely  threat,  and  perhaps,  too, 
the  aspect  of  the  Swedish  army,  which  was  strong  enough 
to  obtain  by  force  what  was  refused  to  entreaty,  brought 
at  last  the  Elector  to  his  senses,  and  Spandau  was  deliv- 
ered into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes. 

The  king  had  now  two  routes  to  Magdeburg;  one  west- 
ward led  through  an  exhausted  country,  and  filled  with 
the  enemy's  troops,  who  might  dispute  with  him  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Elbe ;  the  other  more  to  the  southward,  by 
Dessau  and  Wittenberg,  where  bridges  were  to  be  found 
for  crossing  the  Elbe,  and  where  supplies  could  easily  be 
drawn  from  Saxony.  But  he  could  not  avail  himself  of 
the  latter  without  the  consent  of  the  Elector,  whom  Gus- 
tavus  had  good  reason  to  distrust.  Before  setting  out  on 
his  march,  therefore,  he  demanded  from  that  prince  a  free 
passage  and  liberty  for  purchasing  provisions  for  his 
troops.  His  application  was  refused,  and  no  remonstrances 
could  prevail  on  the  Elector  to  abandon  his  system  of 
neutrality.  While  the  point  was  still  in  dispute  the  news 
of  the  dreadful  fate  of  Magdeburg  arrived. 

Tilly  announced  its  fall  to  the  Protestant  princes  in 
the  tone  of  a  conquerer,  and  lost  no  time  in  making  the 
most  of  the  general  consternation.  The  influence  of  the 
Emperor,  which  had  sensibly  declined  during  the  rapid 
progress  of  Gustavus,  after  this  decisive  blow  rose  higher 
than  ever ;  and  the  change  was  speedily  visible  in  the 
imperious  tone  he  adopted  towards  the  Protestant  states. 
The  decrees  of  the  Confederation  of  Leipzig  were  an- 
nulled by  a  proclamation,  the  Convention  itself  suppressed 
by  an  imperial  decree,  and  all  the  refractory  states  threat- 
ened with  the  fate  of  Magdeburg.  As  the  executor  of 
this  imperial  mandate,  Tilly  immediately  ordered  troops 
to  march  against  the  Bishop  of  Bremen,  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Confederacy,  and  had  himself  enlisted  soldiers. 


162  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*  WAR. 

The  terrified  bishop  immediately  gave  up  his  forces  to 
Tilly,  and  signed  the  revocation  of  the  acts  of  the  Confed- 
eration. An  imperial  army,  which  had  lately  returned 
from  Italy,  under  the  command  of  Count  Furstenberg, 
acted  in  the  same  manner  towards  the  Administrator  of 
Wirtemberg.  The  duke  was  compelled  to  submit  to  the 
Edict  of  Restitution,  and  all  the  decrees  of  the  Emperor, 
and  even  to  pay  a  monthly  subsidy  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  for  the  maintenance  of  the  imperial  troops. 
Similar  burdens  were  inflicted  upon  Ulm  and  Nuremberg, 
and  the  entire  circles  of  Franconia  and  Swabia.  The  hand 
of  the  Emperor  was  stretched  in  terror  over  all  Germany. 
The  sudden  preponderance,  more  in  appearance,  perhaps, 
than  in  reality,  which  he  had  obtained  by  this  blow, 
carried  him  beyond  the  bounds  even  of  the  moderation 
which  he  had  hitherto  observed,  and  misled  him  into 
hasty  and  violent  measures,  which  at  last  turned  the 
wavering  resolution  of  the  German  princes  in  favor  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus.  Injurious  as  the  immediate  conse- 
quences of  the  fall  of  Magdeburg  were  to  the  Protestant 
cause,  its  remoter  effects  were  most  advantageous.  The 
past  surprise  made  way  for  active  resentment,  despair 
inspired  courage,  and  the  German  freedom  rose,  like  a 
phoenix,  from  the  ashes  of  Magdeburg. 

Among  the  princes  of  the  Leipzig  Confederation  the 
Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  were  the 
most  powerful ;  and,  until  they  were  disarmed,  the  uni- 
versal authority  of  the  Emperor  was  unconfirmed.  Against 
the  Landgrave,  therefore,  Tilly  first  directed  his  attack, 
and  marched  straight  from  Magdeburg  into  Thuringia. 
During  this  march  the  territories  of  Saxe,  Ernest,  and 
Schwartzburg  were  laid  waste,  and  Frankenhausen  plun- 
dered before  the  very  eyes  of  Tilly,  and  laid  in  ashes  with 
impunity.  The  unfortunate  peasant  paid  dear  for  his 
master's  attachment  to  the  interests  of  Sweden.  Erfurt, 
the  key  of  Saxony  and  Franconia,  was  threatened  with  a 
siege,  but  redeemed  itself  by  a  voluntary  contribution  of 
money  and  provisions.  From  thence  Tilly  despatched 
his  emissaries  to  the  Landgrave,  demanding  of  him  the 
immediate  disbanding  of  his  army,  a  renunciation  of  the 
league  of  Leipzig,  the  reception  of  imperial  garrisons  into 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  163 

his  territories  and  fortresses,  with  the  necessary  contri- 
butions, and  the  declaration  of  friendship  or  hostility. 
Such  was  the  treatment  which  a  prince  of  the  Empire 
was  compelled  to  submit  to  from  a  servant  of  the 
Emperor.  But  these  extravagant  demands  acquired  a 
formidable  weight  from  the  power  which  supported 
them ;  and  the  dreadful  fate  of  Magdeburg,  still  fresh  in 
the  memory  of  the  Landgrave,  tended  still  farther  to 
enforce  them.  Admirable,  therefore,  was  the  intrepidity 
of  the  Landgrave's  answer:  "To  admit  foreign  troops 
into  his  capital  and  fortresses  the  Landgrave  is  not 
disposed  ;  his  troops  he  requires  for  his  own  purposes  ; 
as  for  an  attack,  he  can  defend  himself.  If  General  Tilly 
wants  money  or  provisions,  let  him  go  to  Munich,  where 
there  is  plenty  of  both."  The  irruption  of  two  bodies  of 
imperial  troops  into  Hesse  Cassel  was  the  immediate 
result  of  this  spirited  reply,  but  the  Landgrave  gave 
them  so  warm  a  reception  that  they  could  effect  nothing; 
and  just  as  Tilly  was  preparing  to  follow  with  his  whole 
army,  to  punish  the  unfortunate  country  for  the  firmness 
of  its  sovereign,  the  movements  of  the  King  of  Sweden 
recalled  him  to  another  quarter. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  had  learned  the  fall  of  Magdeburg 
with  deep  regret;  and  the  demand  now  made  by  the 
Elector,  George  William,  in  terms  of  their  agreement,  for 
the  restoration  of  Spandau,  greatly  increased  this  feeling. 
The  loss  of  Magdeburg  had  rather  augmented  than 
lessened  the  reasons  which  made  the  possession  of  this 
fortress  so  desirable;  and  the  nearer  became  the  necessity 
of  a  decisive  battle  between  himself  and  Tilly,  the  more 
unwilling  he  felt  to  abandon  the  only  place  which,  in  the 
event  of  a  defeat,  could  insure  him  a  refuge.  After  a 
vain  endeavor  by  entreaties  and  representations  to  bring 
over  the  Elector  to  his  views,  whose  coldness  and  luke- 
warmness  daily  increased,  he  gave  orders  to  his  general  to 
evacuate  Spandau,  but  at  the  same  time  declared  to  the 
Elector  that  he  would  henceforth  regard  him  as  an 
enemy. 

To  give  weight  to  this  declaration,  he  appeared  with 
his  whole  force  before  Berlin.  "I  will  not  be  worse 
treated  that  the  imperial  generals,"  was  his  reply  to  the 


1(>4  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

ambassadors  whom  the  bewildered  Elector  despatched  to 
his  camp.  "Your  master  has  received  them  into  his 
territories,  furnished  them  with  all  necessary  supplies, 
ceded  to  them  every  place  which  they  required,  and  yet, 
by  all  these  concessions  he  could  not  prevail  upon  them 
to  treat  his  subjects  with  common  humanity.  All  that  I 
require  of  him  is  security,  a  moderate  sum  of  money,  and 
provisions  for  my  troops ;  in  return  I  promise  to  protect 
his  country,  and  to  keep  the  war  at  a  distance  from  him. 
On  these  points,  however,  I  must  insist ;  and  my  brother, 
the  Elector,  must  instantly  determine  to  have  me  as  a 
friend,  or  to  see  his  capital  plundered."  This  decisive 
tone  produced  a  due  impression  ;  and  the  cannon  pointed 
against  the  town  put  an  end  to  the  doubts  of  George 
William.  In  a  few  days,  a  treaty  was  signed,  by  which 
the  Elector  engaged  to  furnish  a  monthly  subsidy  of 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  to  leave  Spandau  in  the  king's 
hands,  and  to  open  Custrin  at  all  times  to  the  Swedish 
troops.  This  now  open  alliance  of  the  Elector  of  Bran- 
denburg with  the  Swedes  excited  no  less  displeasure  at 
Vienna  than  did  formerly  the  similar  procedure  of  the 
Duke  of  Pomerania;  but  the  changed  fortune  which  now 
attended  his  arms  obliged  the  Emperor  to  confine  his 
resentment  to  words. 

The  king's  satisfaction,  on  this  favorable  event,  was 
increased  by  the  agreeable  intelligence  that  Griefswald, 
the  only  fortress  which  the  Imperialists  still  held  in 
Pomerania,  had  surrendered,  and  that  the  whole  country 
was  now  free  of  the  enemy.  He  appeared  once  more  in 
this  duchy,  and  was  gratified  at  the  sight  of  the  general 
joy  which  he  had  caused  to  the  people.  A  year  had 
elapsed  since  Gustavus  first  entered  Germany,  and  this 
event  was  now  celebrated  by  all  Pomerania  as  a  national 
festival.  Shortly  before  the  Czar  of  Moscow  had  sent 
ambassadors  to  congratulate  him,  to  renew  his  alliance, 
and  even  to  offer  him  troops.  He  had  great  reason  to 
rejoice  at  the  friendly  disposition  of  Russia,  as  it  was 
indispensable  to  his  interests  that  Sweden  itself  should 
remain  undisturbed  by  any  dangerous  neighbor  during 
the  war  in  which  he  himself  was  engaged.  Soon  after 
his  queen,  Maria  Eleonora,  landed  in  Pomerania,  with  a 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  165 

reinforcement  of  eight  thousand  Swedes ;  and  the  arrival 
of  six  thousand  English,  under  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton, 
requires  more  particular  notice,  because  this  is  all  that 
history  mentions  of  the  English  during  the  Thirty  Year's 
War. 

During  Tilly's  expedition  into  Thuringia,  Pappenheim 
commanded  in  Magdeburg;  but  was  unable  to  prevent 
the  Swedes  from  crossing  the  Elbe  at  various  points,  rout- 
ing some  imperial  detachments,  and  seizing  several  posts. 
He  himself,  alarmed  at  the  approach  of  the  King  of 
Sweden,  anxiously  recalled  Tilly,  and  prevailed  upon 
him  to  return  by  rapid  marches  to  Magdeburg.  Tilly 
encamped  on  this  side  of  the  river  at  Wolmerstadt; 
Gustavus  on  the  same  side,  near  Werben,  not  far  from 
the  confluence  of  the  Havel  and  the  Elbe.  His  very 
arrival  portended  no  good  to  Tilly.  The  Swedes  routed 
three  of  his  regiments  which  were  posted  in  villages  at 
some  distance  from  the  main  body,  carried  off  half  their 
baggage,  and  burned  the  remainder.  Tilly  in  vain  ad- 
vanced within  cannon-shot  of  the  king's  camp,  and  offered 
him  battle.  Gustavus,  weaker  by  one-half  than  his  adver- 
sary, prudently  declined  it;  and  his  position  was  too 
strong  for  an  attack.  Nothing  more  ensued  but  a  distant 
cannonade,  and  a  few  skirmishes,  in  which  the  Swedes 
had  invariably  the  advantage.  In  his  retreat  to  Wolmer- 
stadt, Tilly's  army  was  weakened  by  numerous  desertions. 
Fortune  seemed  to  have  forsaken  him  since  the  carnage 
of  Magdeburg. 

The  King  of  Sweden,  on  the  contrary,  was  followed  by 
uninterrupted  success.  While  he  himself  was  encamped 
in  Werben,  the  whole  of  Mecklenburg,  with  the  exceptiou 
of  a  few  towns,  was  conquered  by  his  General  Tott  and 
the  Duke  Adolphus  Frederick  ;  and  he  enjoyed  the  satis- 
faction of  reinstating  both  dukes  in  their  dominions.  He 
proceeded  in  person  to  Gustrow,  where  the  reinstatement 
was  solemnly  to  take  place,  to  give  additional  dignity  to 
the  ceremony  by  his  presence.  The  two  dukes,  with 
their  deliverer  between  them,  and  attended  by  a  splendid 
train  of  princes,  made  a  public  entry  into  the  city,  which 
the  joy  of  their  subjects  converted  into  an  affecting 
solemnity.  Soon  after  his  return  to  Werben,  the  Land- 


166  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

grave  of  Hesse  Cassel  appeared  in  his  camp,  to  conclude 
an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance ;  the  first  sovereign 
prince  in  Germany  who  voluntary  and  openly  declared 
against  the  Emperor,  though  not  wholly  uninfluenced  by 
strong  motives.  The  Landgrave  bound  himself  to  act 

o  o 

against  the  king's  enemies  as  his  own,  to  open  to  him  his 
towns  and  territory,  and  to  furnish  his  army  with  pro- 
visions and  necessaries.  The  king,  on  the  other  hand, 
declared  himself  his  ally  and  protector;  and  engaged  to 
conclude  no  peace  with  the  Emperor  without  first  obtain- 
ing for  the  Landgrave  a  full  redress  of  grievances.  Both 
parties  honorably  performed  their  agreement.  Hesse 
Cassel  adhered  to  the  Swedish  alliance  during  the  whole 
of  this  tedious  war;  and  at  the  peace  of  Westphalia  had 
no  reason  to  regret  the  friendship  of  Sweden. 

Tilly,  from  whom  this  bold  step  on  the  part  of  the 
Landgrave  was  not  long  concealed,  despatched  Count 
Fugger  with  several  regiments  against  him ;  and  at  the 
same  time  endeavored  to  excite  his  subjects  to  rebellion 
by  inflammatory  letters.  But  these  made  as  little  impres- 
sion as  his  troops,  which  subsequently  failed  him  so 
decidedly  at  the  battle  of  Breitenfeld.  The  Estates 
of  Hesse  could  not  for  a  moment  hesitate  between  their 
oppressor  and  their  protector. 

But  the  imperial  general  was  far  more  disturbed  by 
the  equivocal  conduct  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  who,  in 
defiance  of  the  imperial  prohibition,  continued  his  prepa- 
rations, and  adhered  to  the  confederation  at  Leipzig. 
At  this  conjuncture,  when  the  proximity  of  the  King 
of  Sweden  made  a  decisive  battle  ere  long  inevitable,  it 
appeared  extremely  dangerous  to  leave  Saxony  in  arms, 
and  ready  in  a  moment  to  declare  for  the  enemy.  Tilly 
had  just  received  a  reinforcement  of  twenty-five  thousand 
veteran  troops  Tinder  Furstenberg,  and,  confident  in  his 
strength,  he  hoped  either  to  disarm  the  Elector  by  the 
mere  terror  of  his  arrival,  or  at  least  to  conquer  him 
with  little  difficulty.  Before  quitting  his  camp  at  Wol- 
merstadt,  he  commanded  the  Elector,  by  a  special  mes- 
senger, to  open  his  territories  to  the  imperial  troops ; 
either  to  disband  his  own  or  to  join  them  to  the  imperial 
army ;  and  to  assist,  in  conjunction  with  himself,  in 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  167 

driving  the  King  of  Sweden  out  of  Germany.  While 
he  reminded  him  that,  of  all  the  German  states,  Saxony 
had  hitherto  been  most  respected,  he  threatened  it,  in 
case  of  refusal,  with  the  most  destructive  ravages. 

But  Tilly  had  chosen  an  unfavorable  moment  for  so 
imperious  a  requisition.  The  ill-treatment  of  his  religious 
and  political  confederates,  the  destruction  of  Magde- 
burg, the  excesses  of  the  Imperialists  in  Lusatia,  all  com- 
bined to  incense  the  Elector  against  the  Emperor.  The 
approach,  too,  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  (however  slender  his 
claims  were  to  the  protection  of  that  prince)  tended  to 
fortify  his  resolution.  He  accordingly  forbade  the  quar- 
tering of  the  imperial  soldiers  in  his  territories,  and 
announced  his  firm  determination  to  persist  in  his  warlike 
preparations.  However  surprised  he  should  be,  he  added, 
"  To  see  an  imperial  army  on  its  march  against  his  terri- 
tories, when  that  army  had  enough  to  do  in  watching  the 
operations  of  the  King  of  Sweden,  nevertheless  he  did 
not  expect,  instead  of  the  promised  and  well-merited 
rewards,  to  be  repaid  with  ingratitude  and  the  ruin  of 
his  country."  To  Tilly's  deputies,  who  were  entertained 
in  a  princely  style,  he  gave  a  still  plainer  answer  on  the 
occasion.  "  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  I  perceive  that  the 
Saxon  confectionery,  which  has  been  so  long  kept  back, 
is  at  length  to  be  set  upon  the  table.  But  as  it  is  usual 
to  mix  it  with  nuts  and  garnish  of  all  kinds,  take  care 
of  your  teeth." 

Tilly  instantly  broke  up  his  camp,  and,  with  the  most 
frightful  devastation,  advanced  upon  Halle ;  from  this 
place  he  renewed  his  demands  on  the  Elector,  in  a  tone 
still  more  urgent  and  threatening.  The  previous  policy 
of  this  prince,  both  from  his  own  inclination,  and  the 
persuasions  of  his  corrupt  ministers,  had  been  to  promote 
the  interests  of  the  Emperor,  even  at  the  expense  of  his 
own  sacred  obligations,  and  but  very  little  tact  had 
hitherto  kept  him  inactive.  All  this  but  renders  more 
astonishing  the  infatuation  of  the  Emperor  or  his  minis- 
ters in  abandoning,  at  so  critical  a  moment,  the  policy 
they  had  hitherto  adopted,  and,  by  extreme  measures, 
incensing  a  prince  so  easily  led.  Was  this  the  very 
object  which  Tilly  had  in  view?  Was  it  his  purpose 


168  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

to  convert  an  equivocal  friend  into  an  open  enemy,  and 
thus  to  relieve  himself  from  the  necessity  of  that  indul- 
gence in  the  treatment  of  this  prince  which  the  secret 
instructions  of  the  Emperor  had  hitherto  imposed  upon 
him?  Or  was  it  the  Emperor's  wish,  by  driving  the 
Elector  to  open  hostilities,  to  get  quit  of  his  obligations 
to  him,  and  so  cleverly  to  break  off  at  once  the  difficulty 
of  a  reckoning?  In  either  case  we  must  be  equally  sur- 
prised at  the  daring  presumption  of  Tilly,  who  hesitated 
not,  in  presence  of  one  formidable  enemy,  to  provoke 
another;  and  at  his  negligence  in  permitting,  without 
opposition,  the  union  of  the  two. 

The  Saxon  Elector,  rendered  desperate  by  the  entrance 
of  Tilly  into  his  territories,  threw  himself,  though  not 
without  a  violent  struggle,  under  the  protection  of 
Sweden. 

Immediately  after  dismissing  Tilly's  first  embassy,  he 
had  despatched  his  field-marshal  Arnheim  in  all  haste  to 
the  carnp  of  Gustavus,  to  solicit  the  prompt  assistance  of 
that  monarch  whom  he  had  so  long  neglected.  The  king 
concealed  the  inward  satisfaction  he  felt  at  this  long 
wished  for  result.  "  I  am  sorry  for  the  Elector,"  said  he, 
with  dissembled  coldness,  to  the  ambassador ;  "  had  he 
heeded  my  repeated  remonstrances  his  country  would 
never  have  seen  the  face  of  an  enemy,  and  Magdeburg 
would  not  have  fallen.  Now,  when  necessity  leaves  him 
no  alternative,  he  has  recourse  to  my  assistance.  But 
tell  him,  that  I  cannot,  for  the  sake  of  the  Ekctor  of 
Saxony,  ruin  my  own  cause  and  that  of  my  confederates. 
What  pledge  have  I  for  the  sincerity  of  a  prince  whose 
minister  is  in  the  pay  of  Austria,  and  who  will  abandon 
me  as  soon  as  the  Emperor  flatters  him,  and  withdraws 
his  troops  from  his  frontiers  ?  Tilly,  it  is  true,  has 
received  a  strong  reinforcement ;  but  this  shall  not  pre- 
vent me  from  meeting  him  with  confidence,  as  soon  as  I 
have  covered  my  rear." 

The  Saxon  minister  could  make  no  other  reply  to  these 
reproaches  than  that  it  was  best  to  bury  the  past  in 
oblivion. 

He  pressed  the  king  to  name  the  conditions  on  which  he 
would  afford  assistance  to  Saxony,  and  offered  to  guar- 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  169 

antee  their  acceptance.  "I  require,"  said  Gustavus, 
"  that  the  Elector  shall  cede  to  me  the  fortress  of  Wit- 
tenberg, deliver  to  me  his  eldest  sons  as  hostages,  furnish 
my  troops  with  three  months'  pay,  and  deliver  up  to  me 
the  traitors  among  his  ministry." 

"Not  Wittenberg  alone,"  said  the  Elector,  when  he 
received  this  answer,  and  hurried  back  his  minister  to 
the  Swedish  camp,  "not  Wittenberg  alone,  but  Torgau, 
and  all  Saxony,  shall  be  open  to  him ;  my  whole  family 
shall  be  his  hostages,  and  if  that  is  insufficient,  I  will 
place  myself  in  his  hands.  Return  and  inform  him  I  am 
ready  to  deliver  to  him  any  traitors  he  shall  name,  to 
furnish  his  army  with  the  money  he  requires,  and  to 
venture  my  life  and  fortune  in  the  good  cause. 

The  king  had  only  desired  to  test  the  sincerity  of  the 
Elector's  new  sentiments.  Convinced  of  it,  he  now  re- 
tracted these  harsh  demands.  "  The  distrust,"  he  said, 
"  which  was  shown  to  myself  when  advancing  to  the  relief 
of  Magdeburg  had  naturally  excited  mine ;  the  Elector's 
present  confidence  demands  a  return.  I  am  satisfied, 
provided  he  grants  my  army  one  month's  pay,  and  even  for 
his  advance  I  hope  to  indemnify  him." 

Immediately  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  the 
king  crossed  the  Elbe,  and  next  day  joined  the  Saxons. 
Instead  of  preventing  this  junction,  Tilly  had  advanced 
against  Leipzig,  which  he  summoned  to  receive  an 
imperial  garrison.  In  hopes  of  speedy  relief,  Hans 
Von  der  Pforta,  the  commandant,  made  preparations  for 
his  defence,  and  laid  the  suburb  towards  Halle  in  ashes. 
But  the  ill  condition  of  the  fortifications  made  resistance 
vain,  and  on  the  second  day  the  gates  were  opened.  Tilly 
had  fixed  his  headquarters  in  the  house  of  a  grave-digger, 
the  only  one  still  standing  in  the  suburb'  of  Halle ;  here 
he  signed  the  capitulation,  and  here,  too,  he  arranged 
his  attack  on  the  King  of  Sweden.  Tilly  grew  pale  at 
the  representation  of  the  death's-head  and  cross-bones 
with  which  the  proprietor  had  decorated  his  house  ;  and, 
contrary  to  all  expectations,  Leipzig  experienced  moderate 
treatment. 

Meanwhile,  a  council  of  war  was  held  at  Torgau 
between  the  King  of  Sweden  and  the  Elector  of  Saxony, 


170  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR. 

at  which  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  was  also  present. 
The  resolution  which  should  now  be  adopted  was  to 
decide  irrevocably  the  fate  of  Germany  and  the  Prot- 
estant religion,  the  happiness  of  nations  and  the  destiny 
of  their  princes.  The  anxiety  of  suspense  which,  before 
every  decisive  resolve,  oppresses  even  the  hearts  of 
heroes,  appeared  now  for  a  moment  to  overshadow  the 
great  mind  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  "  If  we  decide  upon 
battle,"  said  he,  "  the  stake  will  be  nothing  less  than  a 
crown  and  two  electorates.  Fortune  is  changeable,  and 
the  inscrutable  decrees  of  Heaven  may,  for  our  sins,  give 
the  victory  to  our  enemies.  My  kingdom,  it  is  true,  even 
after  the  loss  of. my  life  and  my  army,  would  still  have  a 
hope  left.  Far  removed  from  the  scene  of  action,  de- 
fended by  a  powerful  fleet,  a  well-guarded  frontier,  and  a 
warlike  population,  it  would  at  least  be  safe  from  the 
worst  consequences  of  a  defeat.  But  what  chances  of 
escape  are  there  for  you,  with  an  enemy  so  close  at 
hand?"  Gustavus  Ad'olphus  displayed  the  modest  dif- 
fidence of  a  hero,  whom  an  overweening  belief  of  his  own 
strength  did  not  blind  to  the  greatness  of  his  danger ; 
John  George,  the  confidence  of  a  weak  man,  who  knows 
that  he  has  a  hero  by  his  side.  Impatient  to  rid  his 
territories  as  soon  as  possible  of  the  oppressive  presence 
of  two  armies,  he  burned  for  a  battle,  in  which  he  had 
no  former  laurels  to  lose.  He  was  ready  to  march  with 
his  Saxons  alone  against  Leipzig,  and  attack  Tilly.  At 
last  Gustavus  acceded  to  his  opinion  ;  and  it  was  resolved 
that  the  attack  should  be  made  without  delay,  before 
the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements,  which  were  on  their 
way,  under  Altringer  and  Tiefenbach.  The  united 
Swedish  and  Saxon  armies  now  crossed  the  Mulda, 
while  the  Elector  returned  homeward. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  September,  1631,  the 
hostile  armies  came  in  sight  of  each  other.  Tilly,  who, 
since  he  had  neglected  the  opportunity  of  overpowering 
the  Saxons  before  their  union  with  the  Swedes,  was  dis- 
posed to  await  the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements,  had 
taken  up  a  strong  and  advantageous  position  not  far  from 
Leipzig,  where  he  expected  he  should  be  able  to  avoid  the 
battle.  But  the  impetuosity  of  Pappenheim  obliged  him, 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  171 

as  soon  as  the  enemy  were  in  motion,  to  alter  his  plans, 
and  to  move  to  the  left,  in  the  direction  of  the  hills  which 
run  from  the  village  of  Wahren  towards  Lindenthal.  At 
the  foot  of  these  heights  his  army  was  drawn  up  in  a  sin- 
gle line,  and  his  artillery  placed  upon  the  heights  behind, 
from  which  it  could  sweep  the  whole  extensive  plain  of 
Breitenfeld.  The  Swedish  and  Saxon  army  advanced  in 
two  columns,  having  to  pass  the  Lober  near  Podelwitz, 
in  Tilly's  front. 

To  defend  the  passage  of  this  rivulet,  Pappenheim  ad- 
vanced at  the  head  of  two  thousand  cuirassiers,  though 
after  great  reluctance  on  the  part  of  Tilly,  and  with  ex- 
press orders  not  to  commence  a  battle.  But,  in  disobe- 
dience to  this  command,  Pappenheim  attacked  the  van- 
guard of  the  Swedes,  and  after  a  brief  struggle  was  driven 
to  retreat.  To  check  the  progress  of  the  enemy,  he  set 
fire  to  Podelwitz,  which,  however,  did  not  prevent  the  two 
columns  from  advancing  and  forming  in  order  of  battle. 

On  the  right,  the  Swedes  drew  up  in  a  double  line,  the 
infantry  in  the  centre,  divided  into  such  small  battalions 
as  could  be  easily  and  rapidly  manoeuvred  without  breaking 
their  order ;  the  cavalry  upon  their  wings,  divided  in  the 
same  manner  into  small  squadrons,  interspersed  with 
bodies  of  musqueteers,  so  as  both  to  give  an  appearance 
of  greater  numerical  force,  and  to  annoy  the  enemy's 
horse.  Colonel  Teufel  commanded  the  centre,  Gustavus 
Horn  the  left,  while  the  right  was  led  by  the  king  in 
person,  opposed  to  Count  Pappenheim. 

On  the  left,  the  Saxons  formed  at  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  Swedes,  by  the  advice  of  Gustavus,  which  was 
justified  by  the  event.  The  order  of  battle  had  been  ar- 
ranged between  the  Elector  and  his  field-marshal,  and 
the  king  was  content  with  merely  signifying  his  approval. 
He  was  anxious  apparently  to  separate  the  Swedish  prow- 
ess from  that  of  the  Saxons,  and  fortune  did  not  confound 
them. 

The  enemy  Avas  drawn  up  under  the  heights  towards 
the  west,  in  one  immense  line,  long  enough  to  outflank  the 
Swedish  army,  the  infantry  being  divided  in  large  bat- 
talions, the  cavalry  in  equally  unwieldly  squadrons.  The 
artillery  being  on  the  heights  behind,  the  range  of  its  fire 


172  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR 

was  over  the  heads  of  his  men.  From  this  position  of  his 
artillery  it  was  evident  that  Tilly's  purpose  was  to  await 
rather  than  to  attack  the  enemy ;  since  this  arrangement 
rendered  it  impossible  for  him  to  do  so  without  exposing 
his  men  to  the  fire  of  his  own  cannons.  Tilly  himself  com- 
manded the  centre,  Count  Furstenberg  the  right  wing,  and 
Pappenheim  the  left.  The  united  troops  of  the  Emperor 
and  the  League  on  this  day  did  not  amqunt  to  thirty-four 
thousand  or  thirty-five  thousand  men ;  the  Swedes  and 
Saxons  were  about  the  same  number.  But  had  a  million 
been  confronted  with  a  million  it  could  only  have  ren- 
dered the  action  more  bloody,  certainly  not  more  impor- 
tant and  decisive.  For  this  day  Gustavus  had  crossed  the 
Baltic  to  court  danger  in  a  distant  country,  and  expose 
his  crown  and  life  to  the  caprice  of  fortune.  The  two 
greatest  generals  of  the  time,  both  hitherto  invincible, 
were  now  to  be  matched  against  each  other  in  a  contest 
which  both  had  long  avoided ;  and  on  this  field  of  battle 
the  hitherto  untarnished  laurels  of  one  leader  must  droop 
forever.  The  two  parties  in  Germany  had  beheld  the 
approach  of  this  day  with  fear  and  trembling;  and  the 
whole  age  awaited  with  deep  anxiety  its  issue,  and  pos- 
terity was  either  to  bless  or  deplore  it  forever. 

Tilly's  usual  intrepidity  and  resolution  seemed  to  for- 
sake him  on  this  eventful  day.  He  had  formed  no  reg- 
ular plan  for  giving  battle  to  the  king,  and  he  displayed 
as  little  firmness  in  avoiding  it.  Contrary  to  his  own 
judgment,  Pappenheim  had  forced  him  to  action.  Doubts 
which  he  had  never  before  felt  struggled  in  his  bosom ; 
gloomy  forebodings  clouded  his  ever-open  brow;  the 
shade  of  Magdeburg  seemed  to  hover  over  him. 

A  cannonade  of  two  hours  commenced  the  battle ;  the 
wind,  which  was  from  the  west,  blew  thick  clouds  of 
smoke  and  dust  from  the  newly-ploughed  and  parched 
fields  into  the  faces  of  the  Swedes.  This  compelled  the 
king  insensibly  to  wheel  northwards,  and  the  rapidity 
with  which  this  movement  was  executed  left  no  time  to 
the  enemy  to  prevent  it. 

Tilly  at  last  left  his  heights,  and  began  the  first  attack 
upon  the  Swedes;  but  to  avoid  their  hot  fire,  he  filed  off 
towards  the  right,  and  fell  upon  the  Saxons  with  such 


THE   THIRTY  YEARS'   WAR.  173 

impetuosity  that  their  line  was  broken,  and  the  whole 
army  thrown  into  confusion.  The  Elector  himself  retired 
to  Eilenburg,  though  a  few  regiments  still  maintained 
their  ground  upon  the  field,  and  by  a  bold  stand  saved 
the  honor  of  Saxony.  Scarcely  had  the  confusion  began 
ere  the  Croats  commenced  plundering,  and  messengers 
were  despatched  to  Munich  and  Vienna  with  the  news  of 
the  victory. 

Pappenheim  had  thrown  himself  with  the  whole  force 
of  his  cavalry  upon  the  right  wing  of  the  Swedes,  but 
without  being  able  to  make  it  waver.  The  king  com- 
manded here  in  person,  and  under  him  General  Banner. 
Seven  times  did  Pappenheim  renew  the  attack,  and  seven 
times  was  he  repulsed.  He  fled  at  last  with  great  loss, 
and  abandoned  the  field  to  his  conqueroi*. 

In  the  meantime,  Tilly,  having  routed  the  remainder 
of  the  Saxons,  attacked  with  his  victorious  troops  the  left 
wing  of  the  Swedes.  To  this  wing  the  king,  as  soon  as 
he  perceived  that  the  Saxons  were  thrown  into  disorder, 
had,  with  a  ready  foresight,  detached  a  reinforcement  of 
three  regiments  to  cover  its  flank,  which  the  flight  of  the 
Saxons  had  left  exposed.  Gustavus  Horn,  who  com- 
manded here,  showed  the  enemy's  cuirassiers  a  spirited 
resistance,  which  the  infantry,  interspersed  among  the 
squadrons  of  horse,  materially  assisted.  The  enemy  were 
already  beginning  to  relax  the  vigor  of  their  attack,  when 
Gustavus  Adolphus  appeared  to  terminate  the  contest. 
The  left  wing  of  the  Imperialists  had  been  routed ;  and 
the  king's  division,  having  no  longer  any  enemy  to 
oppose,  could  now  turn  their  arms  wherever  it  would  be 
to  the  most  advantage.  "Wheeling,  therefore,  with  his 
right  wing  and  main  body  to  the  left,  he  attacked  the 
heights  on  which  the  enemy's  artillery  was  planted. 
Gaining  possession  of  them  in  a  short  time,  he  turned 
upon  the  enemy  the  full  fire  of  their  own  cannon. 

The  play  of  artillery  upon  their  flank,  and  the  terrible 
onslaught  of  the  Swedes  in  front,  threw  this  hitherto  in- 
vincible army  into  confusion.  A  sudden  retreat  was  the 
only  course  left  to  Tilly,  but  even  this  was  to  be  made 
through  the  midst  of  the  enemy.  The  whole  army  was 
in  disorder,  with  the  exception  of  four  regiments  of 


174  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

veteran  soldiers,  who  never  as  yet  had  fled  from  the  field, 
and  were  resolved  not  to  do  so  now.  Closing  their  ranks, 
they  broke  through  the  thickest  of  the  victorious  army, 
and  gained  a  small  thicket,  where  they  opposed  a  new 
front  to  the  Swedes,  and  maintained  their  resistance  till 
night,  when  their  number  was  reduced  to  six  hundred 
men.  With  them  fled  the  wreck  of  Tilly's  army,  and  the 
battle  was  decided. 

Amid  the  dead  and  the  wounded,  Gustavus  Adolphus 
threw  himself  on  his  knees ;  and  the  first  joy  of  his 
victory  gushed  forth  in  fervent  prayer.  He  ordered  his 
cavalry  to  pursue  the  enemy  as  long  as  the  darkness  of 
the  night  would  permit.  The  pealing  of  the  alarm-bells 
set  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  neighboring  villages  in 
motion,  and  utterly  lost  was  the  unhappy  fugitive  who 
fell  into  their  hands.  The  king  encamped  with  the  rest 
of  his  army  between  the  field  of  battle  and  Leipzig,  as  it 
was  impossible  to  attack  the  town  the  same  night.  Seven 
thousand  of  the  enemy  were  killed  in  the  field,  and  more 
than  five  thousand  either  wounded  or  taken  prisoners. 
Their  whole  artillery  and  camp  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Swedes,  and  more  than  a  hundred  standards  and  colors 
were  taken.  Of  the  Saxons  about  two  thousand  had 
fallen,  while  the  loss  of  the  Swedes  did  not  exceed  seven 
hundred.  The  rout  of  the  Imperialists  was  so  complete 
that  Tilly,  on  his  retreat  to  Halle  and  Halberstadt,  could 
not  rally  above  six  hundred  men,  or  Pappenheim  more 
than  one  thousand  four  hundred  —  so  rapidly  was  this 
formidable  army  dispersed  which  so  lately  was  the  terror 
of  Italy  and  Germany. 

Tilly  himself  owed  his  escape  merely  to  chance.  Ex- 
hausted by  his  wounds,  he  still  refused  to  surrender  to  a 
Swedish  captain  of  horse,  who  summoned  him  to  yield  ; 
but  who,  when  he  was  on  the  point  of  putting  him  to 
death,  was  himself  stretched  on  the  ground  by  a  timely 
pistol-shot.  But  more  grievous  than  danger  or  wounds 
was  the  pain  of  surviving  his  reputation,  and  of  losing  in 
a  single  day  the  fruits  of  a  long  life.  All  former  victories 
were  as  nothing,  since  he  had  failed  in  gaining  the  one 
that  should  have  crowned  them  all.  Nothing  remained 
of  all  his  past  exploits  but  the  general  execration  which 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  175 

had  followed  them.  From  this  period  he  never  recovered 
his  cheerfulness  or  his  good  fortune.  Even  his  last  con- 
solation, the  hope  of  revenge,  was  denied  to  him,  by  the 
express  command  of  the  Emperor  not  to  risk  a  decisive 
battle. 

The  disgrace  of  this  day  is  to  be  ascribed  principally  to 
three  mistakes :  his  planting  the  cannon  on  the  hills 
behind  him,  his  afterwards  abandoning  these  heights,  and 
his  allowing  the  enemy,  without  opposition,  to  form  in 
order  of  battle.  But  how  easily  might  those  mistakes 
have  been  rectified,  had  it  not  been  for  the  cool  presence 
of  mind  and  superior  genius  of  his  adversary ! 

Tilly  fled  from  Halle  to  Halberstadt,  where  he  scarcely 
allowed  time  for  the  cure  of  his  wounds  before  he  hurried 
towards  the  Weser  to  recruit  his  force  by  the  imperial 
garrisons  in  Lower  Saxony. 

The  Elector  of  Saxony'had  not  failed,  after  the  danger 
was  over,  to  appear  in  Gustavus'  camp.  The  king 
thanked  him  for  having  advised  a  battle  ;  and  the  Elector, 
charmed  at  his  friendly  reception,  promised  him,  in  the 
first  transports  of  joy,  the  Roman  crown.  Gustavus  set 
out  next  day  for  Merseburg,  leaving  the  Elector  to  recover 
Leipzig.  Five  thousand  Imperialists,  who  had  collected 
together  after  the  defeat,  and  whom  he  met  on  his  march, 
were  either  cut  in  pieces  or  taken  prisoners,  of  whom  again 
the  greater  part  entered  into  his  service.  Merseburg 
quickly  surrended  ;  Halle  was  soon  after  taken,  whither 
the  Elector  of  Saxony,  after  making  himself  master  of 
Leipzig,  repaired  to  meet  the  king,  and  to  concert  their 
future  plan  of  operations. 

The  victory  was  gained,  but  only  a  prudent  use  of  it 
could  render  it  decisive.  The  imperial  armies  were 
totally  routed,  Saxony  free  from  the  enemy,  and  Tilly 
had  retired  into  Brunswick.  To  have  followed  him 
thither  would  have  been  to  renew  the  war  in  Lower 
Saxony,  which  had  scarcely  recovered  from  the  ravages 
of  the 'last.  It  was  therefore  determined  to  carry  the  war 
into  the  enemy's  country,  which,  open  and  defenceless  as 
far  as  Vienna,  invited  attack.  On  their  right,  they 
might  fall  upon  the  territories  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
princes,  or  penetrate,  on  the  left,  into  the  hereditary  do- 


176  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

minions  of  Austria,  and  make  the  Emperor  tremble  in  his 
palace.  Both  plans  were  resolved  on ;  and  the  question 
that  now  remained  was  to  assign  its  respective  parts. 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  at  the  head  of  a  victorious  army,  had 
little  resistance  to  apprehend  in  his  progress  from  Leipzig 
to  Prague,  Vienna,  and  Presburg.  As  to  Bohemia, 
Moravia,  Austria,  and  Hungary,  they  had  been  stripped 
of  their  defenders,  while  the  oppressed  Protestants  in 
these  countries  were  ripe  for  a  revolt.  Ferdinand  was 
no  longer  secure  in  his  capital ;  Vienna,  on  the  first  terror 
of  surprise,  would  at  once  open  its  gates.  The  loss  of  his 
territories  would  deprive  the  enemy  of  the  resources  by 
which  alone  the  war  could  be  maintained ;  and  Ferdinand 
would,  in  all  probability,  gladly  accede,  on  the  hardest 
conditions,  to  a  peace  which  would  remove  a  formidable 
enemy  from  the  heart  of  his  dominions.  This  bold  plan 
of  operations  was  flattering  to  a  conqueror,  and  success 
perhaps  might  have  justified  it.  But  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
as  prudent  as  he  was  brave,  and  more  a  statesman  than  a 
conqueror,  rejected  it,  because  he  had  a  higher  end  in 
view,  and  would  not  trust  the  issue  either  to  bravery  or 
good  fortune  alone. 

By  marching  towards  Bohemia,  Franconia  and  the 
Upper  Rhine  would  be  left  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony. 
But  Tilly  had  already  began  to  recruit  his  shattered  army 
from  the  garrisons  in  Lower  Saxony,  and  was  likely  to  be 
at  the  head  of  a  formidable  force  upon  the  Weser,  and 
to  lose  no  time  in  marching  against  the  enemy.  To  so 
experienced  a  general  it  would  not  do  to  oppose  an 
Arnheim,  of  whose  military  skill  the  battle  of  Leipzig 
had  afforded  but  equivocal  proof;  and  of  what  avail 
would  be  the  rapid  and  brilliant  career  of  the  king  in 
Bohemia  and  Austria  if  Tilly  should  recover  his  su- 
periority in  the  Empire,  animating  the  courage  of  the 
Roman  Catholics,  and  disarming,  by  a  new  series  of  vic- 
tories, the  allies  and  confederates  of  the  king?  What 
would  he  gain  by  expelling  the  Emperor  from  his  heredi- 
tary dominions  if  Tilly  succeeded  in  conquering  for  that 
Emperor  the  rest  of  Germany  ?  Could  he  hope  to  reduce 
the  Emperor  moi'e  than  had  been  done,  twelve  years 
before,  by  the  insurrection  of  Bohemia,  which  had  failed 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  177 

to  shake  the  firmness  or  exhaust  the  resources  of  that 
prince,  and  from  which  lie  had  risen  more  formidable 
than  ever  ? 

Less  brilliant,  but  more  solid,  were  the  advantages 
which  he  had  to  expect  from  an  incursion  into  the  terri- 
tories of  the  League.  In  this  quarter  his  appearance  in 
arms  would  be  decisive.  At  this  very  conjuncture  the 
princes  were  assembled  in  a  Diet  at  Frankfort  to  deliber- 
ate upon  the  Edict  of  Restitution,  where  Ferdinand 
employed  all  his  artful  policy  to  persuade  the  intimidated 
Protestants  to  accede  to  a  speedy  and  disadvantageous 
arrangement.  The  advance  of  their  protector  could 
alone  encourage  them  to  a  bold  resistance  and  disappoint 
the  Emperor's  designs.  Gustavus  Adolphus  hoped  by 
his  presence  to  unite  the  discontented  princes,  or  by  the 
terror  of  his  arms  to  detach  them  from  the  Emperor's 
party.  Here,  in  the  centre  of  Germany,  he  could  para- 
lyze the  nerves  of  the  imperial  power,  which,  without 
the  aid  of  the  League,  must  soon  fall ;  here,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  France,  he  could  watch  the  movements  of  a 
suspicious  ally;  and  however  important  to  his  secret 
views  it  was  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  electors,  he  saw  the  necessity  of  making  himself 
first  of  all  master  of  their  fate,  in  order  to  establish,  by 
his  magnanimous  forbearance,  a  claim  to  their  gratitude. 

He  accordingly  chose  the  route  to  Franconia  and  the 
Rhine,  and  left  the  conquest  of  Bohemia  to  the  Elector 
of  Saxony. 


BOOK  III. 

THE  glorious  battle  of  Leipzig  effected  a  great  change 
in  the  conduct  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  as  well  as  in  the 
opinion  which  both  friends  and  foes  entertained  of  him. 
Successfully  had  he  confronted  the  greatest  general  of 
the  age,  and  had  matched  the  strength  of  his  tactics  and 
the  courage  of  his  Swedes  against  the  elite  of  the  impe- 


178  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

rial  army,  the  most  experienced  troops  hi  Europe.     From 
this  moment  he  felt  a  firm  confidence  in  his  own  powers; 
self-confidence  has  always  been  the  parent  of  great  actions. 
In  all  his  subsequent  operations  more  boldness  and  de- 
cision are  observable ;  greater  determination,  even  amidst 
the  most  unfavorable  circumstances,   a  more  lofty  tone 
towards  his  adversaries,  a  more  dignified  bearing  towards 
his  allies,  and   even  in  his  clemency,  something  of  the 
forbearance  of  a  conqueror.     His   natural   courage  was 
farther  heightened  by  the  pious  ardor  of  his  imagination. 
He  saw  in  his  own  cause  that  of  heaven,  and  in  the  defeat 
of  Tilly  beheld   the  decisive  interference  of  Providence 
against  his  enemies,   and    in   himself   the  instrument  of 
divine  vengeance.     Leaving  his   crown  and  his  country 
far  behind  lie  advanced  on  the  wings  of  victory  into  the 
heart  of  Germany,  which  for  centuries  had  seen  no  for- 
eign conqueror  within  its  bosom.     The  warlike  spirit  of 
its  inhabitants,  the  vigilance  of  its  numerous  princes,  the 
artful    confederation    of    its    states,    the   number   of    its 
strong  castles,  its  many  and  broad  rivers  had  long  re- 
strained the  ambition  of  its  neighbors;  and  frequently  as 
its  extensive  frontier  had  been  attacked,  its  interior  had 
been  free  from  invasion.     The   empire  had  hitherto  en- 
joyed the  equivocal  privilege  of  being  its  own   enemy, 
though   invincible    from    without.       Even    now   it   was 
merely  the  disunion  of  its  members  and  the  intolerance 
of   religious  zeal  that  paved  the  way  for  the  Swedish 
invader.     The  bond  of  union  between  the  states,  which 
alone  had  rendered  the   empire  invincible,  was  now  dis- 
solved ;  and  Gustavus  derived  from   Germany  itself  the 
power  by  which  he  subdued  it.     With  as  much  courage 
as  prudence  he  availed  himself  of  all  that  the  favorable 
moment  afforded ;  and,  equally  at  home   in  the  cabinet 
and    the   field,  he   tore    asunder  the   web   of   the  artful 
policy  with  as  much  ease  as  he  shattered  walls  with  the 
thunder  of  his  cannon.     Uninterruptedly  he  pursued  his 
conquests  from  one  end  of  Germany  to  the  other  without 
breaking  the  line  of  posts  which   commanded    a  secure 
retreat  at  any  moment ;  and  whether  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine,  or  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lech,  alike  maintaining  his 
communication  with  his  hereditary  dominions. 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.    -  179 

The  consternation  of  the  Emperor  and  the  League  at 
Tilly's  defeat  at  Leipzig  was  scarcely  greater  than  the 
surprise  and  embarrassment  of  the  allies  of  the  King  of 
Sweden  at  his  unexpected  success.  It  was  beyond  both 
their  expectations  and  their  wishes.  Annihilated  in  a 
moment  was  that  formidable  army  which,  while  it 
checked  his  progress  and  set  bounds  to  his  ambition,  ren- 
dered him  in  some  measure  dependent  on  themselves. 
He  now  stood  in  the  heart  of  Germany  alone  without  a 
rival  or  without  an  adversary  who  was  a  match  for  him. 
Nothing  could  stop  his  progress  or  check  his  pretensions 
if  the  intoxication  of  success  should  tempt  him  to  abuse 
his  victory.  If  formerly  they  had  dreaded  the  Em- 
peror's irresistible  power,  there  was  no  less  cause  now  to 
fear  everything  for  the  Empire  from  the  violence  of  a 
foreign  conqueror,  and  for  the  Catholic  Church,  from  the 
religious  zeal  of  a  Protestant  king.  The  distrust  and 
jealousy  of  some  of  the  combined  powers,  which  a 
stronger  fear  of  the  Emperor  had  for  a  time  repressed, 
now  revived ;  and  scarcely  had  Gustavus  Adolphus 
merited  by  his  courage  and  success  their  confidence, 
when  they  began  covertly  to  circumvent  all  his  plans. 
Through  a  continual  struggle  with  the  arts  of  enemies, 
and  the  distrust  of  his  own  allies,  must  his  victories 
henceforth  be  won  ;  yet  resolution,  penetration,  and  pru- 
dence made  their  way  through  all  impediments.  But 
while  his  success  excited  the  jealousy  of  his  more  power- 
ful allies,  France  and  Saxony,  it  gave  courage  to  the 
weaker,  and  emboldened  them  openly  to  declare  their 
sentiments  and  join  his  party.  Those  who  could  neither 
vie  with  Gustavus  Adolphus  in  importance,  nor  suffer 
from  his  ambition,  expected  the  more  from  the  magna- 
nimity of  their  powerful  ally,  who  enriched  them  with 
the  spoils  of  their  enemies  and  protected  them  against 
the  oppression  of  their  stronger  neighbors.  His  strength 
covered  their  weakness,  and,  inconsiderable  in  them- 
selves, they  acquired  weight  and  influence  from  their 
union  with  the  Swedish  hero.  This  was  the  case  with 
most  of  the  free  cities,  and  particularly  with  the  weaker 
Protestant  states.  It  was  these  that  introduced  the  king 
into  the  heart  of  Germany  j  these  covered  his  rear,  sup- 


180  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

plied  his  troops  with  necessaries,  received  them  into  their 
fortresses,  while  they  exposed  their  own  lives  in  his  bat- 
tles. His  prudent  regard  to  their  national  pride,  his 
popular  deportment,  some  brilliant  acts  of  justice,  and 
his  respect  for  the  laws  were  so  many  ties  by  which  he 
bound  the  German  Protestants  to  his  cause;  while  the 
crying  atrocities  of  the  Imperialists,  the  Spaniards,  and 
the  troops  of  Lorraine  powerfully  contributed  to  set  his 
own  conduct  and  that  of  his  army  in  a  favorable  light. 

If  Gustavus  Adolphus  owed  his  success  chiefly  to  his 
own  genius,  at  the  same  time,  it  must  be  owned,  he  was 
greatly  favored  by  fortune  and  by  circumstances.  Two 
great  advantages  gave  him  a  decided  superiority  over 
the  enemy.  While  he  removed  the  scene  of  war  into  the 
lands  of  the  League,  drew  their  youth  as  recruits,  enriched 
himself  with  booty,  and  used  the  revenues  of  their  fugi- 
tive princes  as  his  own,  he  at  once  took  from  the  enemy 
the  means  of  effectual  resistance,  and  maintained  an 
expensive  war  with  little  cost  to  himself.  And,  more- 
over, while  his  opponents,  the  princes  of  the  League, 
divided  among  themselves,  and  governed  by  different 
and  often  conflicting  interests,  acted  without  unanimity, 
and  therefore  without  energy ;  while  their  generals  were 
deficient  in  authority,  their  troops  in  obedience,  the  opera- 
tions of  their  scattered  armies  without  concert;  while 
the  general  was  separated  from  the  lawgiver  and  the 
statesman  ;  these  several  functions  were  united  in  Gusta- 
vus Adolphus,  the  only  source  from  which  authority 
flowed,  the  sole  object  to  which  the  eye  of  the  warrior 
turned ;  the  soul  of  his  party,  the  inventor  as  well  as  the 
executor  of  his  plans.  In  him,  therefore,  the  Protestants 
had  a  centre  of  unity  and  harmony,  which  was  altogether 
wanting  to  their  opponents.  No  wonder,  then,  if,  favored 
by  such  advantages,  at  the  head  of  such  an  army,  with 
such  a  genius  to  direct  it,  and  guided  by  such  political 
prudence,  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  irresistible. 

With  a  sword  in  one  hand  and  mercy  in  the  other,  he 
traversed  Germany  as  a  conqueror,  a  lawgiver,  and  a 
judge  in  as  short  a  time  almost  as  the  tourist  of  pleasure. 
The  keys  of  towns  and  fortresses  were  delivered  to  him 
as  if  to  the  native  sovereign.  Xo  fortress  was  inacces- 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  181 

sible ;  no  river  checked  his  victorious  career.  He  con- 
quered by  the  very  terror  of  his  name.  The  Swedish 
standards  were  planted  along  the  whole  stream  of  the 
Maine;  the  Lower  Palatinate  was  free,  the  troops  of 
Spain  and  Lorraine  had  fled  across  the  Rhine  and  the 
Moselle.  The  Swedes  and  Hessians  poured  like  a  torrent 
into  the  territories  of  Mentz,  of  Wurtzburg,  and  Bam- 
berg,  and  three  fugitive  bishops,  at  a  distance  from  their 
sees,  suffered  dearly  for  their  unfortunate  attachment  to 
the  Emperor.  It  was  now  the  turn  for  Maximilian,  the 
leader  of  the  League,  to  feel  in  his  own  dominions  the 
miseries  he  had  inflicted  upon  others.  Neither  the  ter- 
rible fate  of  his  allies,  nor  the  peaceful  overtures  of  Gus- 
tavus,  who,  in  the  midst  of  conquest,  ever  held  out  the 
hand  of  friendship,  could  conquer  the  obstinacy  of  this 
prince.  The  torrent  of  war  now  poured  into  Bavaria. 
Like  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  those  of  the  Lecke  and  the 
Donau  were  crowded  with  Swedish  troops.  Creeping 
into  his  fortresses,  the  defeated  Elector  abandoned  to 
the  ravages  of  the  foe  his  dominions,  hitherto  unscathed 
by  war,  and  on  which  the  bigoted  violence  of  the  Bavarians 
seemed  to  invite  retaliation.  Munich  itself  opened  its 

fates  to  the  invincible  monarch,  and  the  fugitive  Palatine, 
'rederick  V.,  in  the  forsaken  residence  of  his  rival,  con- 
soled himself  for  a  time  for  the  loss  of  his  dominions. 

While  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  extending  his  conquests 
in  the  south,  his  generals  and  allies  were  gaining  similar 
triumphs  in  the  other  provinces.  Lower  Saxony  shook  off 
the  yoke  of  Austria,  the  enemy  abandoned  Mecklenburg, 
and  the  imperial  garrisons  retired  from  the  banks  of  the 
Weser  and  the  Elbe.  In  Westphalia  and  the  Upper 
Rhine  WTilliam,  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  rendered  himself 
formidable;  the  Duke  of  Weimar  in  Thuringia,  and  the 
French  in  the  Electorate  of  Treves ;  while  to  the  eastward 
the  whole  kingdom  of  Bohemia  was  conquered  by  the 
Saxons.  The  Turks  were  preparing  to  attack  Hungary, 
and  in  the  heart  of  Austria  a  dangerous  insurrection  was 
threatened.  In  vain  did  the  Emperor  look  around  to  the 
courts  of  Europe  for  support ;  in  vain  did  he  summon  the 
Spaniards  to  his  assistance,  for  the  bravery  of  the  Flem- 
ings afforded  them  ample  employment  beyond  the  Rhine ; 


182  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

in  vain  did  he  call  upon  the  Roman  court  and  the  whole 
church  to  come  to  his  rescue.  The  offended  Pope  sported, 
in  pompous  processions  and  idle  anathemas,  with  the  em- 
barrassments of  Ferdinand,  and  instead  of  the  desired 
subsidy  he  was  shown  the  devastation  of  Mantua. 

On  all  sides  of  his  extensive  monarchy  hostile  arms 
surrounded  him.  With  the  states  of  the  League,  now 
overrun  by  the  enemy,  those  ramparts  were  thrown  down 
behind  which  Austria  had  so  long  defended  herself,  and 
the  embers  of  war  were  now  smouldering  upon  her 
unguarded  frontiers.  His  most  zealous  allies  were  dis- 
armed ;  Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  his  firmest  support,  was 
scarce  able  to  defend  himself.  His  armies,  weakened  by 
desertion  and  repeated  defeat,  and  dispirited  by  continued 
misfortunes,  had  unlearnt,  under  beaten  generals,  that 
warlike  impetuosity  which  as  it  is  the  consequence,  so  it 
is  the  guarantee  of  success.  The  danger  was  extreme, 
and  extraordinary  means  alone  could  raise  the  imperial 
power  from  the  degradation  into  which  it  was  fallen. 

The  most  urgent  want  was  that  of  a  general ;  and  the 
only  one  from  whom  he  could  hope  for  the  revival  of  his 
former  splendor  had  been  removed  from  his  command 
by  an  envious  cabal.  So  low  had  the  Emperor  now  fallen 
that  he  was  forced  to  make  the  most  humiliating  propo- 
sals to  his  injured*  subject  and  servant,  and  meanly  to 
press  upon  the  imperious  Duke  of  Friedland  the  accept- 
ance of  the  powers  which  no  less  meanly  had  been  taken 
from  him.  A  new  spirit  began  from  this  moment  to 
animate  the  expiring  body  of  Austria ;  and  a  sudden 
change  in  the  aspect  of  affairs  bespoke  the  firm  hand 
which  guided  them.  To  the  absolute  King  of  Sweden 
a  general  equally  absolute  was  now  opposed ;  and  one 
victorious  hero  was  confronted  with  another.  Both 
armies  were  again  to  engage  in  the  doubtful  struggle ; 
and  the  prize  of  victory,  already  almost  secured  in  the 
hands  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  wras  to  be  the  object  of 
another  and  a  severer  trial.  The  storm  of  war  gathered 
around  Nuremberg;  before  its  walls  the  hostile  armies 
encamped  ;  gazing  on  each  other  with  dread  and  respect, 
longing  for,  and  yet  shrinking  from,  the  moment  that 
was  to  close  them  together  in  the  shock  of  battle.  The 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  183 

eyes  of  Europe  turned  to  the  scene  in  curiosity  and 
alarm,  while  Nuremberg,  in  dismay,  expected  soon  to 
lend  its  name  to  a  more  decisive  battle  than  that  of  Leip- 
zig. Suddenly  the  clouds  broke  and  the  storm  rolled 
away  from  Franconia,  to  burst  upon  the  plains  of  Saxony. 
Near  Lutzen  fell  the  thunder  that  had  menaced  Nurem- 
berg ;  the  victory,  half  lost,  was  purchased  by  the  death 
of  the  king.  Fortune,  which  had  never  deserted  him  in 
his  lifetime,  favored  the  King  of  Sweden  even  in  his 
death,  with  the  rare  privilege  of  falling  in  the  fulness  of 
his  glory  and  an  untarnished  fame.  By  a  timely  death 
his  protecting  genius  rescued  him  from  the  inevitable 
fate  of  man  —  that  of  forgetting  moderation  in  the  intox- 
ication of  success,  and  justice  in  the  plenitude  of  power. 
It  may  be  doubted  whether,  had  he  lived  longer,  he  would 
still  have  deserved  the  tears  which  Germany  shed  over 
his  grave,  or  maintained  his  title  to  the  admiration  with 
which  posterity  regards  him,  as  the  first  and  only  just 
conqueror  that  the  world  has  produced.  The  untimely 
fall  of  their  great  leader  seemed  to  threaten  the  ruin  of 
his  party ;  but  to  the  Power  which  rules  the  world,  no 
loss  of  a  single  man  is  irreparable.  As  the  helm  of  war 
dropped  from  the  hand  of  the  falling  hero,  it  was  seized 
by  two  great  statesmen,  Oxenstiern  and  Richelieu.  Des- 
tiny still  pursued  its  relentless  course,  and  for  full  sixteen 
years  longer  the  flames  of  war  blazed  over  the  ashes  of 
the  long-forgotten  king  and  soldier. 

I  may  now  be  permitted  to  take  a  cursory  retrospect 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus  in  his  victorious  career,  glance  at 
the  scene  in  which  he  alone  was  the  great  actor,  and 
then,  when  Austria  becomes  reduced  to  extremity  by 
the  successes  of  the  Swedes,  and  by  a  series  of  disasters 
is  driven  to  the  most  humiliating  and  desperate  expedi- 
ents, to  return  to  the  history  of  the  Emperor. 

As  soon  as  the  plan  of  operations  had  been  concerted 
at  Halle  between  the  King  of  Sweden  and  the  Elector 
of  Saxony,  as  sooij  as  the  alliance  had  been  concluded 
with  the  neighboring  princes  of  Weimar  and  Anhalt,  and 
preparations  made  for  the  recovery  of  the  bishopric  of 
Magdeburg,  the  king  began  his  march  into  the  empire. 
He  had  here  no  despicable  foe  to  contend  with.  Within 


184  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

the  empire  the  Emperor  was  still  powerful ;  throughout 
Franconia,  Swabia,  and  the  Palatinate  imperial  garrisons 
were  posted  with  whom  the  possession  of  every  place  of 
importance  must  be  disputed  sword  in  hand.  On  the 
Rhine  he  was  opposed  by  the  Spaniards,. who  had  over- 
run the  territory  of  the  banished  Elector  Palatine,  seized 
all  its  strong  places,  and  would  everywhere  dispute  with 
him  the  passage  over  that  river.  On  his  rear  was  Tilly, 
who  was  fast  recruiting  his  force,  and  would  soon  be 
joined  by  the  auxiliaries  from  Lorraine.  Every  Papist 
presented  an  inveterate  foe,  while  his  connection  with 
France  did  not  leave  him  at  liberty  to  act  with  freedom 
against  the  Roman  Catholics.  Gustavus  had  foreseen 
all  these  obstacles,  but  at  the  same  time  the  means  by 
which  they  were  to  be  overcome.  The  strength  of  the 
Imperialists  was  broken  and  divided  among  different 
garrisons,  while  he  would  bring  against  them  one  by  one 
his  whole  united  force.  If  he  was  to  be  opposed  by  the 
fanaticism  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  the  awe  in  which 
the  lesser  states  regarded  the  Emperor's  power,  he  might 
depend  on  the  active  support  of  the  Protestants  and 
their  hatred  to  Austrian  oppression.  The  ravages  of  the 
Imperialist  and  Spanish  troops  also  powerfully  aided 
him  in  these  quarters ;  where  the  ill-treated  husbandman 
and  citizen  sighed  alike  for  a  deliverer,  and  where  the 
mere  change  of  yoke  seemed  to  promise  a  relief.  Emissa- 
ries were  despatched  to  gain  over  to  the  Swedish  side 
the  principal  free  cities,  particularly  Nuremburg  and 
Frankfort.  The  first  that  lay  in  the  king's  march,  and 
which  he  could  not  leave  unoccupied  in  his  rear,  was 
Erfurt.  Here  the  Protestant  party  among  the  citizens 
opened  to  him,  without  a  blow,  the  gates  of  the  town 
and  the  citadel.  From  the  inhabitants  of  this,  as  of 
every  -important  place  which  afterwards  submitted,  he 
exacted  an  oath  of  allegiance,  while  he  secured  its  pos- 
session by  a  sufficient  garrison.  To  his  ally,  Duke  Wil- 
liam of  Weimar,  he  entrusted  the  command  of  an  army 
to  be  raised  in  Thuringia.  He  also  left  his  queen  in 
Erfurt,  and  promised  to  increase  its  privileges.  The 
Swedish  army  now  crossed  the  Thuringian  forest  in  two 
columns,  by  Gotha  and  Arnstadt,  and,  having  delivered 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*    WAR.  185 

in  its  march  the  county  of  Henneberg  from  the  Imperial- 
ists, formed  a  junction  on  the  third  day  near  Koenigs- 
hofen,  on  the  frontiers  of  Franconia. 

Francis,  Bishop  of  Wurtzburg,  the  bitter  enemy  of 
the  Protestants,  and  the  most  zealous  member  of  the 
League,  was  the  first  to  feel  the  indignation  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus.  A  few  threats  gained  for  the  Swedes  posses- 
sion of  his  fortress  of  Koenigshofen,  and  with  it  the  key 
of  the  whole  province.  At  the  news  of  this  rapid  con- 
quest dismay  seized  all  the  Roman  Catholic  towns  of  the 
circle.  The  Bishops  of  Wurtzburg  and  Bamberg  trembled 
in  their  castles;  they  already  saw  their  sees  tottering, 
their  churches  profaned,  and  their  religion  degraded. 
The  malice  of  his  enemies  had  circulated  the  most  fright- 
ful representations  of  the  persecuting  spirit  and  the 
mode  of  warfare  pursued  by  the  Swedish  king  and  his 
soldiers,  which  neither  the  repeated  assurances  of  the 
king  nor  the  most  splendid  examples  of  humanity  and 
toleration  ever  entirely  effaced.  Many  feared  to  suffer  at 
the  hands  of  another  Avhat  in  similar  circumstances  they 
were  conscious  of  inflicting  themselves.  Many  of  the 
richest  Roman  Catholics  hastened  to  secure  by  flight 
their  property,  their  religion,  and  their  persons  from  the 
sanguinary  fanaticism  of  the  Swedes.  The  bishop  him- 
self set  the  example.  In  the  midst  of  the  alarm  which 
his  bigotetl  zeal  had  caused  he  abandoned  his  dominions 
and  fled  to  Paris  to  excite,  if  possible,  the  French  minis- 
try against  the  common  enemy  of  religion. 

The  further  progress  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  in  the 
ecclesiastical  territories  agreed  witli  this  brilliant  com- 
mencement. Schweinfurt,  and  soon  after  Wurtzburg, 
abandoned  by  their  Imperial  garrisons,  surrendered ;  but 
Marienberg  he  was  obliged  to  carry  by  storm.  In  this 
place,  which  was  believed  to  be  impregnable,  the  enemy 
had  collected  a  large  store  of  provisions  and  ammunition, 
all  of  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes.  The  king 
found  a  valuable  prize  in  the  library  of  the  Jesuits, 
which  he  sent  to  Upsal,  while  his  soldiers  found  a  still 
more  agreeable  one  in  the  prelate's  well-filled  cellars ; 
his  treasures  the  bishop  had  in  good  time  removed. 
The  whole  bishopric  followed  the  example  of  the  capital 


186  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

and  submitted  to  the  Swedes.  The  king  compelled  all 
the  bishop's  subjects  to  swear  allegiance  to  himself,  and 
in  the  absence  of  the  lawful  sovereign  appointed  a  re- 
gency, one-half  of  whose  members  were  Protestants.  In 
every  Roman  Catholic  town  which  Gustavus  took  he 
opened  the  churches  to  the  Protestant  people,  but  with- 
out retaliating  on  the  Papists  the  cruelties  which  they 
had  practised  on  the  former.  On  such  only  as  sword  in 
hand  refused  to  submit  were  the  fearful  rights  of  war 
enforced ;  and  for  the  occasional  acts  of  violence  com- 
mitted by  a  few  of  the  more  lawless  soldiers,  in  the  blind 
rage  of  their  first  attack,  their  humane  leader  is  not  justly 
responsible.  Those  who  were  peaceably  disposed,  or 
defenceless,  were  treated  with  mildness.  It  was  a  sacred 
principle  with  Gustavus  to  spare  the  blood  of  his  enemies 
as  well  as  that  of  his  own  troops. 

On  the  first  news  of  the  Swedish  irruption  the  Bishop 
of  Wurtzburg,  without  regarding  the  treaty  which  he 
had  entered  into  with  the  King  of  Sweden,  had  earnestly 
pressed  the  general  of  the  League  to  hasten  to  the  assist- 
ance of  the  bishopric.  That  defected  commander  had, 
in  the  meantime,  collected  on  the  "Weser  the  shattered 
remnant  of  his  army,  reinforced  himself  from  the  garri- 
sons of  Lower  Saxony,  and  effected  a  junction  in  Hesse 
with  Altringer  and  Fugger,  who  commanded  under  him. 
Again  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force  Tilly  burned 
with  impatience  to  wipe  out  the  stain  of  his  first  defeat 
by  a  splendid  victory.  From  his  camp  at  Fulda,  whither 
he  had  marched  with  his  army,  he  earnestly  requested 
permission  from  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  to  give  battle 
to  Gustavus  Adolphus.  But,  in  the  event  of  Tilly's 
defeat,  the  League  had  no  second  army  to  fall  back 
upon,  and  Maximilian  was  too  cautious  to  risk  again  the 
fate  of  las  party  on  a  single  battle.  With  tears  in  his 
eyes  Tilly  read  the  commands  of  his  superior  which  com- 
pelled him  to  inactivity.  Thus  his  march  to  Franconia 
was  delayed,  and  Gustavus  Adolphus  gained  time  to  over- 
run the  whole  bishopric.  It  was  in  vain  that  Tilly,  rein- 
forced at  Aschaffenburg  by  a  body  of  twelve  thousand 
men  from  Lorraine,  marched  with  an  overwhelming  force 
to  the  relief  of  Wurtzbum'.  The  town  and  citadel  were 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  187 

already  in  the  hands  of  the  Swedes,  and  Maximilian  of 
Bavaria  was  generally  blamed  (and  not  without  cause, 
perhaps)  for  having  by  his  scruples  occasioned  the  loss  of 
the  bishopric.  Commanded  to  avoid  a  battle,  Tilly  con- 
tented himself  with  checking  the  farther  advance  of  the 
enemy ;  but  he  could  save  only  a  few  of  the  towns  from 
the  impetuosity  of  the  Swedes.  Baffled  in  an  attempt  to 
reinforce  the  weak  garrison  of  Hanau,  which  it  was 
highly  important  for  the  Swedes  to  gain,  he  crossed  the 
Maine  near  Seligenstadt  and  took  the  direction  of  the 
Bergestrasse,  to  protect  the  Palatinate  from  the  con- 
queror. 

Tilly,  however,  was  not  the  sole  enemy  whom  Gustavus 
Adolphus  met  in  Franconia  and  drove  before  him. 
Charles,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  celebrated  in  the  annals  of 
the  time  for  his  unsteadiness  of  character,  his  vain  pro- 
jects, and  his  misfortunes,  ventured  to  raise  a  weak  arm 
against  the  Swedish  hero  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  from 
the  Emperor  the  electoral  dignity.  Deaf  to  the  sugges- 
tions of  a  rational  policy,  he  listened  only  to  the  dictates 
of  heated  ambition ;  by  supporting  the  Emperor  he  ex- 
asperated France,  his  formidable  neighbor,  and  in  pursuit 
of  a  visionary  phantom  in  another  country  left  unde- 
fended his  own  dominions,  which  were  instantly  overrun 
by  a  French  army.  Austria  willingly  conceded  to  him, 
as  well  as  to  the  other  princes  of  the  League,  the  honor 
of  being  ruined  in  her  cause.  Intoxicated  with  vain  hopes 
this  prince  collected  a  force  of  seventeen  thousand  men 
which  he  proposed  to  lead  in  person  against  the  Swedes.  If 
these  troops  were  deficient  in  discipline  and  courage  they 
were  at  least  attractive  by  the  splendor  of  their  accoutre- 
'ments ;  and  however  sparing  they  were  of  their  prowess 
against  the  foe,  they  were  liberal  enough  with  it  against 
the  defenceless  citizens  and  peasantry  whom  they  were 
summoned  to  defend.  Against  the  bravery  and  the 
formidable  discipline  of  the  Swedes  this  splendidly 
attired  army,  however,  made  no  long  stand.  On  the 
first  advance  of  the  Swedish  cavalry  a  panic  seized  them, 
and  they  were  driven  without  difficulty  from  their  can- 
tonments in  Wurtzburg ;  the  defeat  of  a  few  regiments 
occasioned  a  general  rout,  and  the  scattered  remnant 


188  THE   THIRTY  YEARS5   WAR. 

sought  a  covert  from  the  Swedish  valor  in  the  towns 
beyond  the  Rhine.  Loaded  with  shame  and  ridicule  the 
duke  hurried  home  by  Strasburg,  too  fortunate  in 
escaping,  by  a  submissive  written  apology,  the  indigna- 
tion of  his  conqueror,  who  had  first  beaten  him  out  of 
the  field,  and  then  called  upon  him  to  account  for  his 
hostilities.  It  is  related  upon  this  occasion  that  in  a  vil- 
lage on  the  Rhine  a  peasant  struck  the  horse  of  the  duke 
as  he  rode  past,  exclaiming,  "  Haste,  sir ;  you  must  go 
quicker  to  escape  the  gi-eat  King  of  Sweden." 

The  example  of  his  neighbors'  misfortunes  had  taught 
the  Bishop  of  Bamberg  prudence.  To  avert  the  plunder- 
ing of  his  territories  he  made  offers  of  peace,  though 
these  were  intended  only  to  delay  the  kirig's  course  till 
the  arrival  of  assistance.  Gustavus  Adolphus,  too  hon- 
orable himself  to  suspect  dishonesty  in  another,  readily 
accepted  the  bishop's  proposals  and  named  the  conditions 
on  which  he  was  willing  to  save  his  territories  from  hos- 
tile treatment.  He  was  the  more  inclined  to  peace,  as  he 
had  no  time  to  lose  in  the  conquest  of  Bamberg,  and  his 
other  designs  called  him  to  the  Rhine.  The  rapidity 
with  which  he  followed  up  these  plans  cost  him  the  loss 
of  those  pecuniary  supplies  which,  by  a  longer  residence 
in  Franconia,  he  might  easily  have  extorted  from  the 
weak  and  terrified  bishop.  This  artful  pi-elate  broke  off 
the  negotiation  the  instant  the  storm  of  war  passed  away 
from  his  own  territories.  No  sooner  had  Gustavus 
inarched  onwards  than  he  threw  himself  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Tilly,  and  received  the  troops  of  the  Emperor 
into  the  very  towns  and  fortresses  which  shortly  before 
he  had  shown  himself  ready  to  open  to  the  Swedes.  By 
this  stratagem,  however,  he  only  delayed  for  a  brief, 
interval  the  ruin  of  his  bishopric.  A  Swedish  general 
who  had  been  left  in  Franconia  undertook  to  punish  the 
perfidy  of  the  bishop,  and  the  ecclesiastical  territory 
became  the  seat  of  war  and  was  ravaged  alike  by  friends 
and  foes. 

The  formidable  presence  of  the  Imperialists  had  hith- 
erto been  a  check  upon  the  Franconian  States  ;  but  their 
retreat,  and  the  humane  conduct  of  the  Swedish  king, 
emboldened  the  nobility  and  other  inhabitants  of  this 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  189 

circle  to  declare  in  his  favor.  Nuremberg  joyfully  com- 
mitted itself  to  his  protection,  and  the  Frauconian  nobles 
were  won  to  his  cause  by  flattering  proclamations  in 
which  he  condescended  to  apologize  for  his  hostile  ap- 
pearance in  their  dominions.  The  fertility  of  Franconia, 
and  the  rigorous  honesty  of  the  Swedish  soldiers  in  their 
dealings  with  the  inhabitants,  brought  abundance  to  the 
camp  of  the  king.  The  high  esteem  which  the  nobility 
of  the  circle  felt  for  Gustavus,  the  respect  and  admira- 
tion with  which  they  regarded  his  brilliant  exploits,  the 
promises  of  rich  booty  which  the  service  of  this  mon- 
arch held  out,  greatly  facilitated  the  recruiting  of  his 
troops ;  a  step  which  was  made  necessary  by  detaching 
so  many  garrisons  from  the  main  body.  At  the  sound 
of  his  drums  recruits  flocked  to  his  standard  from  all 
quarters. 

The  king  had  scarcely  spent  more  time  in  conquering 
Franconia  than  he  would  have  required  to  cross  it.  He 
now  left  behind  him  Gustavus  Horn,  one  of  his  best 
generals,  with  a  force  of  eight  thousand  men,  to  complete 
and  retain  his  conquest.  He  himself  with  his  main  army, 
reinforced  by  the  late  recruits,  hastened  towards  the 
Rhine  in  order  to  secure  this  frontier  of  the  empire  from 
the  Spaniards,  to  disarm  the  ecclesiastical  electors,  and 
to  obtain  from  their  fertile  territories  new  resources  for 
the  prosecution  of  the  war.  Following  the  course  of  the 
Maine,  he  subjected  in  the  course  of  his  march  Seligen- 
stadt,  Aschaffenburg,  Steinheim,  the  whole  territory  on 
both  sides  of  the  river.  The  imperial  garrisons  seldom 
awaited  his  approach,  and  never  attempted  resistance. 
In  the  meanwhile  one  of  his  colonels  had  been  fortunate 
enough  to  take  by  suprise  the  town  and  citadel  of  Hanau, 
for  whose  preservation  Tilly  had  shown  such  anxiety. 
Eager  to  be  free  of  the  oppressive  burden  of  the  Impe- 
rialists, the  Count  of  Hanau  gladly  placed  himself  under 
the  milder  yoke  of  the  King  of  Sweden. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  now  turned  his  whole  attention  to 
Frankfort,  for  it  was  his  constant  maxim  to  cover  his 
rear  by  the  friendship  and  possession  of  the  more  impor- 
tant towns.  Frankfort  was  among  the  free  cities  which, 
even  from  Saxony,  he  had  endeavored  to  prepare  for  his 


190  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'  WAR. 

reception ;  and  he  now  called  upon  it,  by  a  summons 
from  Offenbach,  to  allow  him  a  free  passage,  and  to 
admit  a  Swedish  garrison.  Willingly  would  this  city 
have  dispensed  with  the  necessity  of  choosing  between 
the  King  of  Sweden  and  the  Emperor,  for,  whatever 
party  they  might  embrace,  the  inhabitants  had  a  like  rea- 
son to  fear  for  their  privileges  and  trade.  The  Emperor's 
vengeance  would  certainly  fall  heavily  upon  them  if  they 
were  in  a  hurry  to  submit  to  the  King  of  Sweden,  and 
afterwards  he  should  prove  unable  to  protect  his  adher- 
ents in  Germany.  But  still  more  ruinous  for  them  would 
be  the  displeasure  of  an  irresistible  conqueror  who,  with 
a  formidable  army,  was  already  before  their  gates,  and 
who  might  punish  their  opposition  by  the  ruin  of  their 
commerce  and  prosperity.  In  vain  did  their  deputies 
plead  the  danger  which  menaced  their  fairs,  their  privi- 
leges, perhaps  their  constitution  itself,  if  by  espousing 
the  party  of  the  Swedes  they  were  to  incur  the  Emperor's 
displeasure.  Gustavus  Adolphus  expressed  to  them  his 
astonishment  that  when  the  liberties  of  Germany  and  the 
Protestant  religion  were  at  stake  the  citizens  of  Frank- 
fort should  talk  of  their  annual  fairs,  and  postpone  for 
temporal  interests  the  great  cause  of  their  country  and 
their  conscience.  He  had,  he  continued  in  a  menacing 
tone,  found  the  keys  of  every  town  and  fortress  from  the 
Isle  of  Rugen  to  the  Maine,  and  knew  also  where  to  find 
a  key  to  Frankfort.  The  safety  of  Germany  and  the 
freedom  of  the  Protestant  Church  were,  he  assured  them, 
the  sole  objects  of  his  invasion ;  conscious  of  the  justice 
of  his  cause,  he  was  determined  not  to  allow  any  obstacle 
to  impede  his  progress.  "  The  inhabitants  of  Frankfort, 
he  was  well  aware,  wished  to  stretch  out  only  a  finger  to 
him,  but  he  must  have  the  whole  hand  in  order  to  have 
something  to  grasp."  At  the  head  of  the  army  he  closely 
followed  the  deputies  as  they  carried  back  his  answer, 
and  in  order  of  battle  awaited  near  Saxenhausen  the 
decision  of  the  council. 

If  Frankfort  hesitated  to  submit  to  the  Swedes  it  was 
solely  from  fear  of  the  Emperor ;  their  own  inclinations 
did  not  allow  them  a  moment  to  doubt  between  the 
oppressor  of  Germany  and  its  protector.  The  menacing 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   AVAR.  191 

preparations  amidst  which  Gustavus  Adolphus  now  com- 
pelled them  to  decide  would  lessen  the  guilt  of  their 
revolt  in  the  eyes  of  the  Emperor,  and  by  an  appearance 
of  compulsion  justify  the  step  which  they  willingly  took. 
The  gates  were  therefore  opened  to  the  King  of  Sweden, 
who  marched  his  army  through  this  imperial  town  in 
magnificent  procession  and  in  admirable  order.  A  gar- 
rison of  six  hundred  men  was  left  in  Saxenhausen,  while 
the  king  himself  advanced  the  same  evening  with  the 
rest  of  his  army  against  the  town  of  Hochst,  in  Mentz, 
which  surrendered  to  him  before  night. 

While  Gustavus  was  thus  extending  his  conquests  along 
the  Maine,  fortune  crowned  also  the  efforts  of  his  gen- 
erals and  allies  in  the  North  of  Germany.  Rostock, 
Wistnar,  and  Doemitz,  the  only  strong  places  in  the 
Duchy  of  Mecklenburg  which  still  sighed  under  the  yoke 
of  the  Imperialists,  were  recovered  by  their  legitimate 
sovereign,  the  Duke  John  Albert,  under  the  Swedish 
General  Achatius  Tott.  In  vain  did  the  Imperial  general, 
Wolf  Count  von  Mansfeld,  endeavor  to  recover  from  the 
Swedes  the  territories  of  Halberstadt,  of  which  they  had 
taken  possession  immediately  upon  the  victory  of  Leip- 
zig ;  he  was  even  compelled  to  leave  Magdeburg  itself  in 
their-  hands.  The  Swedish  general,  Banner,  who  with 
eight  thousand  men  r-emained  upon  the  Elbe,  closely 
blockaded  that  city,  and  had  defeated  several  imperial 
regiments  which  had  been  sent  to  its  relief.  Count 
Mansfeld  defended  it  in  person  with  great  resolution,  but 
his  garrison  being  too  weak  to  oppose  for  any  length  of 
time  the  numerous  force  of  the  besiegers,  he  was  already 
about  to  surrender  on  conditions  when  Pappenheim  ad- 
vanced to  his  assistance  and  gave  employment  elsewhere 
to  the  Swedish  arms.  Magdeburg,  however,  or  rather 
the  wretched  huts  that  peeped  out  miserably  from  among 
the  ruins  of  that  once  great  town,  was  afterwards  volun- 
tarily abandoned  by  the  Imperialists  and  immediately 
taken  possession  of  by  the  Swedes. 

Even  Lower  Saxony,  encouraged  by  the  progress  of 
the  king,  ventured  to  raise  its  head  from  the  disasters  of 
the  unfortunate  Danish  war.  They  held  a  congress  at 
Hamburg  and  resolved  upon  raising  three  regiments, 


192  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

which  they  hoped  would  be  sufficient  to  free  them 
from  the  oppressive  garrisons  of  the  Imperialists.  The 
Bishop  of  Bremen,  a  relation  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  was 
not  content  even  with  this,  but  assembled  troops  of  his 
own,  and  terrified  the  unfortunate  monks  and  priests  of 
the  neighborhood,  but  was  quickly  compelled  by  the 
imperial  general,  Count  Gronsfeld,  to  lay  down  his  arms. 
Even  George,  Duke  of  Lunenburg,  formerly  a  colonel  in 
the  Emperor's  service,  embraced  the  party  of  Gustavus, 
for  whom  he  raised  several  regiments,  and,  by  occupying 
the  attention  of  the  Imperialists  in  Lower  Saxony, 
materially  assisted  him. 

But  more  important  service  was  rendered  to  the  king 
by  the  Landgrave  William  of  Hesse  Cassel,  whose  vic- 
torious arms  struck  with  terror  the  greater  part  of 
Westphalia  and  Lower  Saxony,  the  bishopric  of  Fulda, 
and  even  the  Electorate  of  Cologne.  It  has  been  already 
stated  that  immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  the  alli- 
ance between  the  Landgrave  and  Gustavus  Adolphus  at 
Werben,  two  imperial  generals,  Fugger  and  Altringer, 
were  ordered  by  Tilly  to  march  into  Hesse,  to  punish  the 
Landgrave  for  his  revolt  from  the  Emperor.  But  this 
prince  had  as  firmly  withstood  the  arms  of  his  enemies 
as  his  subjects  had  the  proclamations  of  Tilly  inciting 
them  to  rebellion,  and  the  battle  of  Leipzig  presently 
relieved  him  of  their  presence.  He  availed  himself  of 
their  absence  with  courage  and  resolution ;  in  a  short 
time,  Vach,  Miinden,  and  Hoexter  surrendered  to  him, 
while  his  rapid  advance  alarmed  the  bishoprics  of  Fulda, 
Paderborn,  and  the  ecclesiastical  territories  which  bor- 
dered on  Hesse.  The  terrified  states  hastened  by  a 
speedy  submission  to  set  limits  to  his  progress,  and  by 
considerable  contributions  to  purchase  exemption  from 
plunder.  After  these  successful  enterprises,  the  Land- 
grave united  his  victorious  army  with  that  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  and  concerted  with  him  at  Frankfort  their 
future  plan  of  operations. 

In  this  city  a  number  of  princes  and  ambassadors  were 
assembled  to  congratulate  Gustavus  on  his  success,  and 
either  to  conciliate  his  favor  or  to  appease  his  indignation. 
Among  them  was  the  fugitive  King  of  Bohemia,  Palatine 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  193 

Frederick  V.,  who  had  hastened  from  Holland  to  throw 
himself  into  the  arms  of  his  avenger  and  protector.  Gus- 
tavus  gave  him  the- unprofitable  honor  of  greeting  him  as 
a  crowned  head,  and  endeavored  by  a  respectful  sympathy 
to  soften  his  sense  of  his  misfortunes.  But  great  as  the 
advantages  were  which  Frederick  had  promised  himself 
from  the  power  and  good  fortune  of  his"  protector,  and 
high  as  were  the  expectations  he  had  built  on  his  justice 
and  magnanimity,  the  chance  of  this  unfortunate  prince's 
reinstatement  in  his  kingdom  was  as  distant  as  ever.  The 
inactivity  and  contradictory  politics  of  the  English  court 
had  abated  the  zeal  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  an  irrita- 
bility, which  he  could  not  always  repress,  made  him  on 
this  occasion  forget  the  glorious  vocation  of  protector  of 
the  oppressed,  in  which  on  his  invasion  of  Germany  he 
had  so  loudly  announced  himself. 

The  terrors  of  the  king's  irresistible  strength,  and  the 
near  prospect  of  his  vengeance,  had  also  compelled 
George,  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Darmstadt,  to  a  timely 
submission.  His  connection  with  the  Emperor,  and  his 
indifference  to  the  Protestant  cause,  were  no  secret  to  the 
king,  but  he  was  satisfied  with  laughing  at  so  impotent 
an  enemy.  As  the  Landgrave  knew  his  own  strength  and 
the  political  situation  of  Germany  so  little,  as  to  offer 
himself  as  mediator  between  the  contending  parties,  Gus- 
tavus used  jestingly  to  call  him  the  peacemaker.  He  was 
frequently  heard  to  say,  when  at  play  he  was  winning 
from  the  Landgrave,  "that  the  money  afforded  double 
satisfaction,  as  it  was  Imperial  coin."  To  his  affinity  with 
the  Elector  of  Saxony,  whom  Gustavus  had  cause  to  treat 
with  forbearance,  the  Landgrave  was  indebted  for  the 
favorable  terms  he  obtained  from  the  king,  who  contented 
himself  with  the  surrender  of  his  fortress  of  Russelheim, 
and  his  promise  of  observing  a  strict  neutrality  during 
the  war.  The  Counts  of  Westerwald  and  Wetterau  also 
visited  the  King  in  Frankfort,  to  offer  him  their  assistance 
against  the  Spaniards,  and  so  conclude  an  alliance,  which 
was  afterwards  of  great  service  to  him.  The  town  of 
Frankfort  itself  had  reason  to  rejoice  at  the  presence  of  this 
monarch,  who  took  their  commerce  under  his  protection, 
and  by  the  most  effectual  measures  restored  the  fairs,  which 
had  been  greatly  interrupted  by  the  war. 


194  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

The  Swedish  army  was  now  reinforced  by  ten  thousand 
Hessians,  which  the  Landgrave  of  Casse  commanded. 
Gustavus  Adolphus  had  already  invested  Konigstein; 
Kostheim  and  Florsheim  surrendered  after  a  short  siege ; 
he  was  in  command  of  the  Maine ;  and  transports  were 
preparing  with  all  speed  at  Hoechst  to  carry  his  troops 
across  the  Rhine.  These  preparations  filled  the  Elector 
of  Mentz,  Anselm  Casimir,  with  consternation  ;  and  he  no 
longer  doubted  but  that  the  storm  of  war  would  next  fall 
upon  him.  As  a  partisan  of  the  Emperor,  and  one  of  the 
most  active  members  of  the  League,  he  could  expect  no 
better  treatment  than  his  confederates,  the  Bishops  of 
Wurtzburg  and  Bamberg,  had  already  experienced.  The 
situation  of  his  territories  upon  the  Rhine  made  it  neces- 
sary for  the  enemy  to  secure  them,  while  the  fertility 
afforded  an  irresistible  temptation  to  a  necessitous  army. 
Miscalculating  his  own  strength  and  that  of  his  adversa- 
ries, the  Elector  flattered  himself  that  he  was  able  to 
repel  force  by  force,  and  weary  out  the  valor  of  the 
Swedes  by  the  strength  of  his  fortresses.  He  ordered 
the  fortifications  of  his  capital  to  be  repaired  with  all 
diligence,  provided  it  with  every  necessary  for  sustaining 
a  long  siege,  and  received  into  the  town  a  garrison  of 
two  thousand  Spaniards,  under  Don  Philip  de  Sylva. 
To  prevent  the  approach  of  the  Swedish  transports,  he 
endeavored  to  close  the  mouth  of  the  Maine  by  driving 
piles,  and  sinking  large  heaps  of  stones  and  vessels.  He 
himself,  however,  accompanied  by  the  Bishop  of  Worms, 
and  carrying  with  him  his  mo»t  precious  effects,  took 
refuge  in  Cologne,  and  abandoned  his  capital  and  terri- 
tories to  the  rapacity  of  a  tyrannical  garrison.  But  these 
preparations,  which  bespoke  less  of  true  courage  than  of 
weak  and  overweening  confidence,  did  not  prevent  the 
Swedes  from  marching  against  Mentz,  and  making  serious 
preparations  for  an  attack  upon  the  city.  While  one 
body  of  their  troops  poured  into  the  Rheingau,  routed  the 
Spaniards  who  remained  there,  and  levied  contributions 
on  the  inhabitants,  another  laid  the  Roman  Catholic 
towns  in  Westerwald  and  Wetterau  under  similar  con- 
tributions. The  main  army  had  encamped  at  Cassel, 
opposite  Mentz;  and  Bernhard,  Duke  of  Weimar,  made 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  195 

himself  master  of  the  Mausethurm  and  the  castle  of 
Ehrenfels,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine.  Gustavus  was 
now  actively  preparing  to  cross  the  river,  and  to  blockade 
the  town  on  the  land  side,  when  the  movements  of  Tilly 
in  Franconia  suddenly  called  him  from  the  siege,  and 
obtained  for  the  Elector  a  short  repose. 

The  danger  of  Nuremburg,  which,  during  the  absence 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus  on  the  Rhine,  Tilly  had  made  a 
show  of  besieging,  and,  in  the  event  of  resistance,  threat- 
ened with  the  cruel  fate  of  Magdeburg,  occasioned  the 
king  suddenly  to  retire  from  before  Mentz.  Lest  he 
should  expose  himself  a  second  time  to  the  reproaches  of 
Germany,  and  the  disgrace  of  abandoning  a  confederate 
city  to  a  ferocious  enemy,  he  hastened  to  its  relief  by 
forced  marches.  On  his  arrival  at  Frankfort,  however, 
he  heard  of  its  spirited  resistance,  and  of  the  retreat  of 
Tilly,  and  lost  not  a  moment  in  prosecuting  his  designs 
against  Mentz.  Failing  in  an  attempt  to  cross  the  Rhine 
at  Cassel,  under  the  cannon  of  the  besieged,  he  directed 
his  march  towards  the  Bergstrasse,  with  a  view  of  ap- 
proaching the  town  from  an  opposite  quarter.  Here  he 
quickly  made  himself  master  of  all  the  places  of  impor- 
tance, and  at  Stockstadt,  between  Gernsheim  and  Oppen- 
heim,  appeared  a  second  time  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine.  The  whole  of  the  Bergstrasse  was  abandoned  by 
the  Spaniards,  who  endeavored  obstinately  to  defend  the 
other  bank  of  the  river.  For  this  purpose  they  had  burned 
or  sunk  all  the  vessels  in  the  neighborhood,  and  arranged 
a  formidable  force  on  the  banks  in  case  the  king  should 
attempt  the  passage  at  that  place. 

On  this  occasion,  the  king's  impetuosity  exposed  him 
to  great  danger  of  falling  into  .the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
In  order  to  reconnoitre  the  opposite  bank,  he  crossed  the 
river  in  a  small  boat ;  he  had  scarcely  landed  when  he 
was  attacked  by  a  party  of  Spanish  horse,  from  whose 
hands  he  only  saved  himself  by  a  precipitate  retreat. 
Having  at  last,  with  the  assistance  of  the  neighboring 
fishermen,  succeeded  in  procuring  a  few  transports,  he 
despatched  two  of  them  across  the  river,  bearing  Count 
Brahe  and  three  hundred  Swedes.  Scarcely  had  this 
officer  time  to  entrench  himself  on  the  opposite  bank, 


196  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

when  he  was  attacked  by  fourteen  squadrons  of  Spanish 
dragoons  and  cuirassiers.  Superior  as  the  enemy  was  in 
number,  Count  Brahe,  with  his  small  force,  bravely  de- 
fended himself,  and  gained  time  for  the  king  to  support 
him  with  fresh  troops.  The  Spaniards  at  last  retired  with 
the  loss  of  six  hundred  men,  some  taking  refuge  in 
Oppenheim,  and  others  in  Mentz.  A  lion  of  marble  on  a 
high  pillar,  holding  a  naked  sword  in  his  paw,  and  a  hel- 
met on  his  head,  was  erected  seventy  years  after  the 
event,  to  point  out  to  the  traveller  the  spot  where  the 
immortal  monarch  crossed  the  great  river  of  Germany. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  now  conveyed  his  artillery  and  the 
greater  part  of  his  troops  over  the  river,  and  laid  siege  to 
Oppenheim,  which,  after  a  brave  resistance,  was,  on  the 
8th  December,  1631,  carried  by  storm.  Five  hundred 
Spaniards,  who  had  so  courageously  defended  the  place, 
fell  indiscriminately  a  sacrifice  to  the  fury  of  the  Swedes. 
The  crossing  of  the  Rhine  by  Gustavus  struck  terror  into 
the  Spaniards  and  Lorrainers,  who  had  thought  them- 
selves protected  by  the  river  from  the  vengeance  of  the 
Swedes.  Rapid  flight  was  now  their  only  security  ;  every 
place  incapable  of  an  effectual  defence  was  immediately 
abandoned.  After  a  long  train  of  outrages  on  the  de- 
fenceless citizens,  the  troops  of  Lorraine  evacuated 
Worms,  which,  before  their  departure,  they  treated  with 
wanton  cruelty.  The  Spaniards  hastened  to  shut  them- 
selves up  in  Frankenthal,  where  they  hoped  to  defy  the 
victorious  arms  of  Gustavus  Adolphus. 

The  king  lost  no  time  in  prosecuting  his  designs  against 
Mentz,  into  which  the  flower  of  the  Spanish  troops  had 
thrown  themselves.  While  he  advanced  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rhine,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel  moved 
forward  on  the  other,  reducing  several  strong  places  on 
his  march.  The  besieged  Spaniards,  though  hemmed  in 
on  both  sides,  displayed  at  first  a  bold  determination, 
and  threw,  for  several  days,  a  shower  of  bombs  into  the 
Swedish  camp,  which  cost  the  king  many  of  his  bravest 
soldiers.  But,  notwithstanding,  the  Swedes  continually 
gained  ground,  and  had  at  last  advanced  so  close  to  the 
ditch  that  they  prepared  seriously  for  storming  the  place. 
The  courage  of  the  besieged  now  began  to  droop.  They 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  197 

trembled  before  the  furious  impetuosity  of  the  Swedish 
soldiers,  of  which  Marienberg,  in  Wurtzburg,  had  afforded 
so  fearful  an  example.  The  same  dreadful  fate  awaited 
JVientz  if  taken  by  storm  ;  and  the  enemy  might  even  be 
easily  tempted  to  revenge  the  carnage  of  Magdeburg  on 
this  rich  and  magnificent  residence  of  a  Roman  Catholic 
prince.  To  save  the  town,  rather  than  their  own  lives, 
the  Spanish  garrison  capitulated  on  the  fourth  day,  and 
obtained  from  the  magnanimity  of  Gustavus  a  safe  con- 
duct to  Luxembourg  ;  the  greater  part  of  them,  however, 
following  the  example  of  many  others,  enlisted  in  the 
service  of  Sweden. 

On  the  13th  December,  1631,  the  king  made  his  entry 
into  the  conquered  town,  and  fixed  his  quarters  in  the 
palace  of  the  Elector.  Eighty  pieces  of  cannon  fell  into 
his  hands,  and  the  citizens  were  obliged  to  redeem  their 
property  from  pillage  by  a  payment  of  eighty  thousand 
florins.  The  benefits  of  this  redemption  did  not  extend 
to  the  Jews  and  the  clergy,  who  were  obliged  to  make 
large  and  separate  contributions  for  themselves.  The 
library  of  the  Elector  was  seized  by  the  king  as  his  share, 
and  presented  by  him  to  his  chancellor,  Oxenstiern,  who 
intended  it  for  the  Academy  of  Westerrah,  but  the 
vessel  in  which  it  was  shipped  to  Sweden  foundered  at 
sea. 

After  the  loss  of  Mentz  misfortune  still  pursued  the 
Spaniards  on  the  Rhine.  Shortly  before  the  capture  of 
that  city,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel  had  taken 
Falkenstein  and  Reifenberg,  and  the  fortress  of  Koning- 
stein  surrendered  to  the  Hessians.  The  Rhinegrave, 
Otto  Louis,  one  of  the  king's  generals,  defeated  nine 
Spanish  squadrons  who  were  on  their  march  for  Franken- 
thal,  and  made  himself  master  of  the  most  important 
towns  upon  the  Rhine,  from  Boppart  to  Bacharach. 
After  the  capture  of  the  fortress  of  Braunfels,  which  was 
effected  by  the  Count  of  Wetterau,  with  the  co-operation 
of  the  Swedes,  the  Spaniards  quickly  lost  every  place  in 
Wetterau,  while  in  the  Palatinate  they  retained  few 
places  besides  Frankenthal.  Landau  and  Kronweisenberg 
openly  declared  for  the  Swedes  ;  Spires  offered  troops  for 
the  king's  service ;  Manheim  was  gained  through  the 


198  THE   THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR. 

prudence  of  the  Duke  Bernard  of  Weimar,  and  the 
negligence  of  its  governor,  who,  for  this  misconduct,  was 
tried  before  the  council  of  war,  at  Heidelberg,  and 
beheaded. 

The  king  had  protracted  the  campaign  into  the  depth 
of  winter,  and  the  severity  of  the  season  was  perhaps  one 
cause  of  the  advantage  his  soldiers  gained  over  those  of 
the  enemy.  But  the  exhausted  troops  now  stood  in  need 
of  the  repose  of  winter  quarters,  which,  after  the  surrender 
of  Mentz,  Gustavus  assigned  to  them,  in  its  neighborhood. 
He  himself  employed  the  interval  of  inactivity  in  the 
field,  which  the  season  of  the  year  enjoined,  in  arranging, 
with  his  chancellor,  the  affairs  of  his  cabinet,  in  treating 
for  a  neutrality  with  some  of  his  enemies,  and  adjusting 
some  political  disputes  which  had  sprung  up  with  a  neigh- 
boring ally.  He  chose  the  city  of  Mentz  for  his  winter 
quarters,  and  the  settlement  of  these  state  affairs,  and 
showed  a  greater  partiality  for  this  town  than  seemed 
consistent  with  the  interests  of  the  German  princes,  or 
the  shortness  of  his  visit  to  the  Empire.  Not  content 
with  strongly  fortifying  it,  he  erected  at  the  opposite 
angle,  which  the  Maine  forms  with  the  Rhine,  a  new 
citadal,  which  was  named  Gustavusburg  from  its  founder, 
but  which  is  better  known  under  the  title  of  Pfaffenraub 
or  Pfaffenzwang.* 

While  Gustavus  Adolphus  made  himself  master  of  the 
Rhine,  and  threatened  the  three  neighboring  electorates 
with  his  victorious  arms,  his  vigilant  enemies  in  Paris 
and  St.  Germain's  made  use  of  every  artifice  to  deprive 
him  of  the  support  of  France,  and,  if  possible,  to  involve 
him  in  a  war  with  that  power.  By  his  sudden  and 
equivocal  march  to  the  Rhine  he  had  surprised  his 
friends,  and  furnished  his  enemies  with  the  means  of  ex- 
citing a  distrust  of  his  intentions.  After  the  conquest  of 
Wurtzburg,  and  of  the  greater  part  of  Fran  con  ia,  the 
road  into  Bavaria  and  Austria  lay  open  to  him  through 
Bamberg  and  the  Upper  Palatinate  ;  and  the  expectation 
was  as  general  as  it  was  natural,  that  he  would  not  delay 
to  attack  the  Emperor  and  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  in  the 

*  Priests'  plunder ;  alluding  to  the  means  by  which  the  expense  of  its 
erection  had  been  defrayed. 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  199 

very  centre  of  their  power,  and,  by  the  reduction  of  his 
two  principal  enemies,  bring  the  war  immediately  to  an 
end.  But  to  the  surprise  of  both  parties,  Gustavus  left 
the  path  which  general  expectation  had  thus  marked  out 
for  him;  and  instead  of  advancing  to  the  right,  turned  to 
the  left,  to  make  the  less  important  and  more  innocent 
princes  of  the  Rhine  feel  his  power,  while  he  gave  time 
to  his  more  formidable  opponents  to  recruit  their  strength. 
Nothing  but  the  paramount  design  of  reinstating  the  un- 
fortunate Palatine,  Frederick  V.,  in  the  possession  of  his 
territories,  by  the  expulsion  of  the  Spaniards,  could  seem 
to  account  for  this  strange  step ;  and  the  belief  that  Gus- 
tavus was  about  to  effect  that  restoration  silenced  for  a 
while  the  suspicions  of  his  friends  and  the  calumnies  of 
his  enemies.  But  the  Lower  Palatinate  was  now  almost 
entirely  cleared  of  the  enemy;  and  yet  Gustavus  con- 
tinued to  form  new  schemes  of  conquest  on  the  Rhine, 
and  to  withhold  the  reconquered  country  from  the  Pala- 
tine, its  rightful  owner.  In  vain  did  the  English  ambas- 
sador remind  him  of  what  justice  demanded,  and  what 
his  own  solemn  engagement  made  a  duty  of  honor;  Gus- 
tavus replied  to  these  demands  with  bitter  complaints 
of  the  inactivity  of  the  English  court,  and  prepared  to 
carry  his  victorious  standard  into  Alsace,  and  even  into 
Lorraine. 

A  distrust  of  the  Swedish  monarch  was  now  loud  and 
open,  while  the  malice  of  his  enemies  busily  circulated  the 
most  injurious  reports  as  to  his  intentions.  Richelieu, 
the  minister  of  Louis  XIII.,  had  long  witnessed  with 
anxiety  the  king's  progress  towards  the  French  frontier, 
and  the  suspicious  temper  of  Louis  rendered  him  but  too 
accessible  to  the  evil  surmises  which  the  occasion  gave  rise 
to.  France  was  at  this  time  involved  in  a  civil  war  with 
her  Protestant  subjects,  and  the  fear  was  not  altogether 
groundless  that  the  approach  of  a  victorious  monarch  of 
their  party  might  revive  their  drooping  spirit,  and  en- 
courage them  to  a  more  desperate  resistance.  This  might 
be  the  case,  even  if  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  far  from 
showing  a  disposition  to  encourage  them,  or  to  act  un- 
faithfully towards  his  ally,  the  King  of  France.  But  the 
vindictive  Bishop  of  Wurtzburg,  who  was  anxious  to 


200  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

avenge  the  loss  of  his  dominions,  the  envenomed  rhetoric 
of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  active  zeal  of  the  Bavarian  minister, 
represented  this  dreaded  alliance  between  the  Huguenots 
and  the  Swedes  as  an  undoubted  fact,  and  filled  the  timid 
mind  of  Louis  with  the  most  alarming  fears.  Not  merely 
chimerical  politicians,  but  many  of  the  best  informed 
Roman  Catholics,  fully  believed  that  the  king  was  on  the 
point  of  breaking  into  the  heart  of  France,  to  make  com- 
mon cause  with  the  Huguenots,  and  to  overturn  the 
Catholic  religion  within  the  kingdom.  Fanatical  zealots 
already  saw  him,  with  his  army,  crossing  the  Alps  and 
dethroning  the  Vicegerent  of  Christ  in  Italy.  Such 
reports  no  doubt  soon  refute  themselves ;  yet  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  Gustavus,  by  his  manoauvres  on  the  Rhine, 
gave  a  dangerous  handle  to  the  malice  of  his  enemies,  and 
in  some  measure  justified  the  suspicion  that  he  directed 
his  arms,  not  so  much  against  the  Emperor  and  the 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  as  against  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
itself. 

The  general  clamor  of  discontent  which  the  Jesuits 
raised  in  all  the  Catholic  courts  against  the  alliance  be- 
tween France  and  the  enemy  of  the  church  at  last  com- 
pelled Cardinal  Richelieu  to  take  a  decisive  step  for  the 
security  of  his  religion,  and  at  once  to  convince  the 
Roman  Catholic  world  of  the  zeal  of  France,  and  of  the 
selfish  policy  of  the  ecclesiastical  states  of  Germany. 
Convinced  that  the  views  of  the  King  of  Sweden,  like  his 
own,  aimed  solely  at  the  humiliation  of  the  power  of 
Austria,  he  hesitated  not  to  promise  to  the  princes  of  the 
League,  on  the  part  of  Sweden,  a  complete  neutrality, 
immediately  they  abandoned  their  alliance  with  the  Em- 
peror and  withdrew  their  troops.  Whatever  the  resolu- 
tion these  princes  should  adopt  Richelieu  would  equally 
attain  his  object.  By  their  separation  from  the  Austrian 
interest  Ferdinand  would  be  exposed  to  the  combined 
attack  of  France  and  Sweden ;  and  Gustav-us  Adolphus, 
freed  from  his  other  enemies  in  Germany,  would  be  able 
to  direct  his  undivided  force  against  the  hereditary  do- 
minions of  Austria.  In  that  event  the  fall  of  Austria 
was  inevitable,  and  this  great  object  of  Richelieu's  policy 
would  be  gained  without  injury  to  the  church.  If,  on 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  201 

the  other  hand,  the  princes  of  the  League  persisted  in 
their  opposition,  and  adhered  to  the  Austrian  alliance,  the 
result  would  indeed  be  more  doubtful,  but  still  France 
would  have  sufficiently  proved  to  all  Europe  the  sincerity 
of  her  attachment  to  the  Catholic  cause,  and  performed 
her  duty  as  a  member  of  the  Roman  Church.  The 
princes  of  the  League  would  then  appear  the  sole  au- 
thors of  those  evils  which  the  continuance  of  the  war 
would  unavoidably  bring  upon  the  Roman  Catholics  of 
Germany  ;  they  alone,  by  their  wilful  and  obstinate  ad- 
herence to  the  Emperor,  would  frustrate  the  measures 
employed  for  their  protection,  involve  the  church  in 
danger,  and  themselves  in  ruin. 

Richelieu  pursued  this  plan  with  greater  zeal,  the  more 
he  was  embarrassed  by  the  repeated  demands  of  the 
Elector  of  Bavaria  for  assistance  from  France ;  for  this 
prince,  as  already  stated,  when  he  first  began  to  enter- 
tain suspicions  of  the  Emperor,  entered  immediately  into 
a  secret  alliance  with  France,  by  which,  in  the  event  of 
any  change  in  the  Emperor's  sentiments,  he  hoped  to 
secure  the  possession  of  the  Palatinate.  But  though  the 
origin  of  the  treaty  clearly  showed  against  what  enemy 
it  was  directed,  Maximilian  now  thought  proper  to  make 
use  of  it  against  the  King  of  Sweden,  and  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  demand  from  France  that  assistance  against  her 
ally  which  she  had  simply  promised  against  Austria. 
Richelieu,  embarrassed  by  this  conflicting  alliance  with 
two  hostile  powers,  had  no  resource  left  but  to  endeavor 
to  put  a  speedy  termination  to  their  hostilities  ;  and  as 
little  inclined  to  sacrifice  Bavaria,  as  he  was  disabled,  by 
his  treaty  with  Sweden,  from  assisting  it,  he  set  himself, 
with  all  diligence,  to  bring  about  a  neutrality  as  the  only 
means  of  fulfilling  his  obligations  to  both.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  Marquis  of  Breze  was  sent,  as  his  plenipoten- 
tiary, to  the  King  of  Sweden  at  Mentz,  to  learn  his  senti- 
ments on  this  point,  and  to  procure  from  him  favorable 
conditions  for  the  allied  princes.  But  if  Louis  XIII.  had 
powerful  motives  for  wishing  for  this  neutrality,  Gustavus 
Adolphus  had  as  grave  reasons  for  desiring  the  contrary. 
Convinced  by  numerous  proofs  that  the  hatred  of  the 
princes  of  the  League  to  the  Protestant  religion  was  in- 


202  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR. 

vincible,  their  aversion  to  the  foreign  power  of  the 
Swedes  inextinguishable,  and  their  attachment  to  the 
House  of  Austria  irrevocable,  he  apprehended  less  danger 
from  their  open  hostility  than  from  a  neutrality  which 
was  so  little  in  unison  with  their  real  inclinations;  and, 
moreover,  as  he  was  constrained  to  carry  on  the  war  in 
Germany  at  the  expense  of  the  enemy,  he  manifestly  sus- 
tained great  loss  if  he  diminished  their  number  without 
increasing  that  of  his  friends.  It  was  not  surprising, 
therefore,  if  Gustavus  evinced  little  inclination  to  pur- 
chase the  neutrality  of  the  League,  by  which  he  was 
likely  to  gain  so  little,  at  the  expense  of  the  advantages 
he  had  already  obtained. 

The  conditions,  accordingly,  upon  which  he  offered  to 
adopt  the  neutrality  towards  Bavaria  were  severe,  and 
suited  to  these  views.  He  required  of  the  whole  League 
a  full  and  entire  cessation  from  all  hostilities ;  the  recall 
of  their  troops  from  the  imperial  army,  from  the  con- 
quered towns,  and  from  all  the  Protestant  countries  ;  the 
reduction  of  their  military  force;  the  exclusion  of  the 
imperial  armies  from  their  territories,  and  from  supplies 
either  of  men,  provisions,  or  ammunition.  Hard  as  the 
conditions  were  which  the  victor  thus  imposed  upon  the 
vanquished  the  French  mediator  flattered  himself  he 
should  be  able  to  induce  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  to  accept 
them.  In  order  to  give  time  for  an  accommodation,  Gus- 
tavus had  agreed  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities  for  a  fort- 
night. But  at  the  very  time  when  this  monarch  was 
receiving  from  the  French  agents  repeated  assurances  of 
the  favorable  progress  of  the  negotiation,  an  intercepted 
letter  from  the  Elector  to  Pappenheim,  the  imperial  gen- 
eral in  Westphalia,  revealed  the  perfidy  of  that  prince,  as 
having  no  other  object  in  view  by  the  whole  negotiation 
than  to  gain  time  for  his  measures  of  defence.  Far 
from  intending  to  fetter  his  military  operations  by  a 
truce  with  Sweden,  the  artful  prince  hastened  his  prep- 
arations, and  employed  the  leisure  which  his  enemy 
afforded  him,  in  making  the  most  active  dispositions  for 
resistance.  The  negotiation  accordingly  failed,  and 
served  only  to  increase  the  animosity  of  the  Bavarians 
and  the  Swedes. 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  203 

Tilly's  augmented  force,  with  which  he  threatened  to 
overrun  Franconia,  urgently  required  the  king's  presence 
in  that  circle ;  but  it  was  necessary  to  expel  previously 
the  Spaniards  from  the  Rhine,  and  to  cut  off  their  means 
of  invading  Germany  from  the  Netherlands.  With  this 
view,  Gustavus  Adolphus  had  made  an  offer  of  neutrality 
to  the  Elector  of  Treves,  Philip  von  Zeltern,  on  condi- 
tion that  the  fortress  of  Hermanstein  should  be  delivered 
up  to  him,  and  a  free  passage  granted  to  his  troops 
through  Coblentz.  But  unwillingly  as  the  Elector  had 
beheld  the  Spaniards  within  his  territories,  he  was  still 
less  disposed  to  commit  his  estates  to  the  suspicious  pro- 
tection of  a  heretic,  and  to  make  the  Swedish  conqueror 
master  of  his  destinies.  Too  weak  to  maintain  his  inde- 
pendence between  two  such  powerful  competitors,  he  took 
refuge  in  the  protection  of  France.  With  his  usual  pru- 
dence, Richelieu  profited  by  the  embarrassments  of  this 
prince  to  augment  the  power  of  France,  and  to  gain  for 
her  an  important  ally  on  the  German  frontier.  A  numer- 
ous French  army  was  despatched  to  protect  the  territory 
of  Treves,  and  a  French  garrison  was  received  into 
Ehrenbreitstein.  But  the  object  which  had  moved  the 
Elector  to  this  bold  step  was  not  completely  gained,  for 
the  offended  pride  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  not  ap- 
peased till  he  had  obtained  a  free  passage  for  his  troops 
through  Treves. 

Pending  these  negotiations  with  Treves  and  France, 
the  king's  generals  had  entirely  cleared  the  territory  of 
Mentz  of  the  Spanish  garrisons,  and  Gustavus  himself 
completed  the  conquest  of  this  district  by  the  capture  of 
Kreutznach.  To  protect  these  conquests  the  Chancellor 
Oxenstiern  was  left  with  a  division  of  the  army  upon  the 
Middle  Rhine,  while  the  main  body,  under  the  king  him- 
self, began  its  march  against  the  enemy  in  Franconia. 

The  possession  of  this  circle  had,  in  the  meantime,  been 
disputed  with  variable  success,  between  Count  Tilly  and  the 
Swedish  General  Horn,  whom  Gustnvus  had  left  there  with 
eight  thousand  men  ;  and  the  Bishopric  of  Bamberg,  in 
particular,  was  at  once  the  prize  and  the  scene  of  their 
struggle.  Called  away  to  the  Rhine  by  his  other  projects, 
the  king  had  left  to  his  general  the  chastisement  of  the 


204  THE   THIRTY   YEARS*  WAR. 

bishop,  whose  perfidy  had  excited  his  indignation,  and 
the  activity  of  Horn  justified  the  choice.  In  a  short  time 
he  subdued  the  greater  part  of  the  bishopric ;  and  the 
capital  itself,  abandoned  by  its  imperial  garrison,  was 
carried  by  storm.  The  banished  bishop  urgently  de- 
manded assistance  from  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  who  was 
at  length  persuaded  to  put  an  end  to  Tilly's  inactivity. 
Fully  empowered  by  his  master's  order  to  restore  the 
bishop  to  his  possessions,  this  general  collected  his  troops, 
who  were  scattered  over  the  Upper  Palatinate,  and  with 
an  army  of  twenty  thousand  men  advanced  upon  Bam- 
berg.  Firmly  resolved  to  maintain  his  conquest,  even 
against  this  overwhelming  force,  Horn  awaited  the  enemy 
within  the  walls  of  Bamberg  ;  but  was  obliged  to  yield  to 
the  vanguard  of  Tilly  what  he  had  thought  to  be  able  to 
dispute  with  his  whole  army.  A  panic  which  suddenly 
seized  his  troops,  and  which  no  presence  of  mind  of  their 
general  could  check,  opened  the  gates  to  the  enemy,  and 
it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  troops,  baggage,  and  artil- 
lery were  saved.  The  reconquest  of  Bamberg  was  the 
fruit  of  this  victory ;  but  Tilly,  with  all  his  activity,  was 
\inable  to  overtake  the  Swedish  general,  who  retired  in 
good  order  behind  the  Maine.  The  king's  appearance  in 
Franconia,  and  his  junction  with  Gustavus  Horn  at 
Kitzingen,  put  a  stop  to  Tilly's  conquests,  and  com- 
pelled him  to  provide  for  his  own  safety  by  a  rapid  re- 
treat. 

The  king  made  a  general  review  of  his  troops  at  Asch- 
affenburg.  After  his  junction  with  Gustavus  Horn, 
Banner,  and  Duke  William  of  Weimar,  they  amounted 
to  nearly  forty  thousand  men.  His  progress  through 
Franconia  was  uninterrupted  ;  for  Tilly,  far  too  weak  to 
encounter  an  enemy  so  superior  in  numbers,  had  retreated, 
by  rapid  marches,  towards  the  Danube.  Bohemia  and 
Bavaria  were  now  equally  near  to  the  king,  and,  uncer- 
tain whither  his  victorious  course  might  be  directed, 
Maximilian  could  form  no  immediate  resolution.  The 
choice  of  the  king,  and  the  fate  of  both  provinces,  now 
depended  on  the  road  that  should  be  left  open  to  Count 
Tilly.  It  was  dangerous,  during  the  approach  of  so  for- 
midable an  enemy,  to  leave  Bavaria  undefended,  in  order 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  205 

to  protect  Austria;  still  more  dangerous,  by  receiving 
Tilly  into  Bavaria,  to  draw  thither  the  enemy  also,  and 
to  render  it  the  seat  of  a  destructive  war.  The  cares  of 
the  sovereign  finally  overcame  the  scruples  of  the  states- 
man, and  Tilly  received  orders,  at  all  hazards,  to  cover 
the  frontiers  of  Bavaria  with  his  army. 

Nuremberg  received  with  triumphant  joy  the  pro- 
tector of  the  Protestant  religion  and  German  freedom, 
and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  citizens  expressed  itself  on  his 
arrival  in  loud  transports  of  admiration  and  joy.  Even 
Gustavus  could  not  contain  his  astonishment  to  see  him- 
self in  this  city,  which  was  the  very  centre  of  Germany, 
where  he  had  never  expected  to  be  able  to  penetrate. 
The  noble  appearance  of  his  person  completed  the  im- 
pression produced  by  his  glorious  exploits,  and  the  con- 
descension with  which  he  received  the  congratulations  of 
this  free  city  won  all  hearts.  He  now  confirmed  the 
alliance  lie  had  concluded  with  it  on  the  shores  of  the 
Baltic,  and  excited  the  citizens  to  zealous  activity  and 
fraternal  unity  against  the  common  enemy.-  After  a 
short  stay  in  Nuremberg  he  followed  his  army  to  the 
Danube,  and  appeared  unexpectedly  before  the  frontier 
town  of  Donauwerth.  A  numerous  Bavarian  garrison 
defended  the  place,  and  their  commander,  Rodolph  Maxi- 
milian, Duke  of  Saxe  Lauenburg,  showed  at  first  a  resolute 
determination  to  defend  it  till  the  arrival  of  Tilly.  But 
the  vigor  with  which  Gustavus  Adolphus  prosecuted  the 
siege  soon  compelled  him  to  take  measures  for  a  speedy 
and  secure  retreat,  which,  amidst  a  tremendous  fire  from 
the  Swedish  artillery,  he  successfully  executed. 

The  conquest  of  Donauwerth  opened  to  the  king  the 
further  side  of  the  Danube,  and  gow  the  small  river 
Lech  alone  separated  him  from  Bavaria.  The  immediate 
danger  of  his  dominions  aroused  all  Maximilian's  activity, 
and  however  little  he  had  hitherto  disturbed  the  enemy's 
progress  to  his  frontier,  he  now  determined  to  dispute  as 
resolutely  the  remainder  of  their  course.  On  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  the  Lech,  near  the  small  town  of  Rain,  Tilly 
occupied  a  strongly  fortified  camp,  which,  surrounded  by 
three  rivers,  bade  defiance  to  all  attack.  All  the  bridges 
over  the  Lech  were  destroyed ;  the  whole  course  of  the 


206  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

stream  protected  by  strong  garrisons  as  far  as  Augsburg, 
and  that  town  itself,  which  had  long  betrayed  its  impa- 
tience to  follow  the  example  of  Nuremberg  and  Frank- 
fort, secured  by  a  Bavarian  garrison,  and  the  disarming 
of  its  inhabitants.  The  Elector  himself,  with  all  the 
troops  he  could  collect,  threw  himself  into  Tilly's  camp, 
as  if  all  his  hopes  centred  on  this  single  point,  and  here 
the  good  fortune  of  the  Swedes  was  to  suffer  shipwreck 
forever. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  after  subduing  the  whole  territory 
of  Augsburg,  on  his  own  side  of  the  river,  and  opening 
to  his  troops  a  rich  supply  of  necessaries  from  that  quar- 
ter, soon  appeared  on  the  bank  opposite  the  Bavarian 
intrenchments.  It  was  now  the  month  of  March,  when 
the  river,  swollen  by  frequent  rains  and  the  melting  of 
the  snow  from  the  mountains  of  the  Tyrol,  flowed  full 
and  rapid  between  its  steep  banks.  Its  boiling  current 
threatened  the  rash  assailants  with  certain  destruction, 
while  from  the  opposite  side  the  enemy's  cannon  showed 
their  murderous  mouths.  If,  in  despite  of  the  fury  both 
of  fire  and  water,  they  should  accomplish  this  almost 
impossible  passage,  a  fresh  and  vigorous  enemy  awaited 
the  exhausted  troops  in  an  impregnable  camp ;  and  when 
they  needed  repose  and  refreshment  they  must  prepare 
for  battle.  With  exhausted  powers  they  must  ascend 
the  hostile  intrenchments,  whose  strength  seemed  to  bid 
defiance  to  every  assault.  A  defeat  sustained  upon  this 
shore  would  be  attended  with  inevitable  destruction, 
since  the  same  stream  which  impeded  their  advance 
would  also  cut  off  their  retreat  if  fortune  should  abandon 
them. 

The  Swedish  council  of  war,  which  the  king  now 
assembled,  strongly  urged  upon  him  all  these  considera- 
tions, in  order  to  deter  him  from  this  dangerous  under- 
taking. The  most  intrepid  were  appalled,  and  a  troop  of 
honorable  warriors,  who  had  grown  gray  in  the  field,  did 
not  hesitate  to  express  their  alarm.  But  the  king's  reso- 
lution was  fixed.  "  What ! "  said  he  to  Gustavus  Horn, 
who  spoke  for  the  rest,  "have  we  crossed  the  Baltic, 
and  so  many  great  rivers  of  Germany,  and  shall  we  now 
be  checked  by  a  brook  like  the  Lech?"  Gustavus  had 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  207 

already  at  great  personal  risk  reconnoitred  the  whole 
country,  and  discovered  that  his  own  side  of  the  river 
was  higher  than  the  other,  and  consequently  gave  a  con- 
siderable advantage  to  the  fire  of  the  Swedish  artillery 
over  that  of  the  enemy.  With  great  presence  of  mind 
he  determined  to  profit  by  this  circumstance.  At  the 
point  where  the  left  bank  of  the  Lech  forms  an  angle 
with  the  right  he  immediately  caused  three  batteries  to 
be  erected,  from  which  seventy-two  field-pieces  main- 
tained a  cross  fire  upon  the  enemy.  While  this  tremen- 
dous cannonade  drove  the  Bavarians  from  the  opposite 
bank,  he  caused  to  be  erected  a  bridge  over  the  river 
with  all  possible  rapidity.  A  thick  smoke,  kept  up  by 
burning  wood  and  wet  straw,  concealed  for  some  time  the 
progress  of  the  work  from  the  enemy,  while  the  contin- 
ued thunder  of  the  cannon  overpowered  the  noise  of  the 
axes.  He  kept  alive  by  his  own  example  the  courage  of 
his  troops,  and  discharged  more  than  sixty  cannon  with 
his  own  hand.  The  cannonade  was  returned  by  the 
Bavarians  with  equal  vivacity  for  two  hours,  though  with 
less  effect,  as  the  Swedish  batteries  swept  the  lower  oppo- 
site bank,  while  their  height  served  as  a  breastwork  to 
their  own  troops.  In  vain,  therefore,  did  the  Bavarians 
attempt  to  destroy  these  works ;  the  superior  fire  of  the 
Swedes  threw  them  into  disorder,  and  the  bridge  was  com- 
pleted under  their  very  eyes.  On  this  dreadful  day  Tilly 
did  everything  in  his  power  to  encourage  his  troops,  and 
no  danger  could  drive  him  from  the  bank.  At  length  he 
found  the  death  which  he  sought,  a  cannon-ball  shattered 
his  leg ;  and  Altringer,  his  brave  companion-in-arms,  was 
soon  after  dangerously  wounded  in  the  head.  Deprived 
of  the  animating  presence  of  their  two  generals  the 
Bavarians  gave  way  at  last,  and  Maximilian,  in  spite  of 
his  own  judgment,  was  driven  to  adopt  a  pusillanimous 
resolve.  Overcome  by  the  persuasions  of  the  dying 
Tilly,  whose  wonted  firmness  was  overpowered  by  the 
near  approach  of  death,  he  gave  up  his  impregnable  posi- 
tion for  lost ;  and  the  discovery  by  the  Swedes  of  a  ford 
by  which  their  cavalry  were  on  the  point  of  passing, 
accelerated  his  inglorious  retreat.  The  same  night,  be- 
fore a  single  soldier  of  the  enemy  had  crossed  the  Lech, 


208  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

he  broke  up  his  camp,  and  without  giving  time  for  the 
king  to  harass  him  in  his  march,  retreated  in  good  order 
to  Neuburgh  and  Ingolstadt.  With  astonishment  did 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  who  completed  the  passage  of  the 
river  on  the  following  day,  behold  the  hostile  camp 
abandoned;  and  the  Elector's  flight  surprised  him  still 
more  when  he  saw  the  strength  of  the  position  he  had 
quitted.  "  Had  I  been  the  Bavarian,"  said  he,  "  though 
a  cannon-ball  had  carried  away  my  beard  and  chin,  never 
would  I  have  abandoned  a  position  like  this  and  laid  open 
my  territory  to  my  enemies." 

Bavaria  now  lay  exposed  to  the  conquerer ;  and,  for 
the  first  time  the  tide  of  war,  which  had  hitherto  only 
beat  against  its  frontier,  now  flowed  over  its  long  spared 
and  fertile  fields.  Before,  however,  the  king  proceeded 
to  the  conquest  of  these  provinces,  he  delivered  the  town 
of  Augsburg  from  the  yoke  of  Bavaria,  exacted  an  oath  of 
allegiance  from  the  citizens,  and  to  secure  its  observance 
left  a  garrison  in  the  town.  He  then  advanced  by  rapid 
marches  against  Ingolstadt,  in  order,  by  the  capture  of 
this  important  fortress,  which  the  Elector  covered  with 
the  greater  part  of  his  army,  to  secure  his  conquests  in 
Bavaria  and  obtain  a  firm  footing  on  the  Danube. 

Shortly  after  the  appearance  of  the  Swedish  King 
before  Ingoldstadt,  the  wounded  Tilly,  after  experiencing 
the  caprice  of  unstable  fortune,  terminated  his  career 
within  the  walls  of  that  town.  Conquered  by  the  supe- 
rior generalship  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  he  lost  at  the 
close  of  his  days  all  the  laurels  of  his  earlier  victories,  and 
appeased  by  a  series  of  misfortunes  the  demands  of  jus- 
tice and  the  avenging  manes  of  Magdeburg.  In  his 
death  the  Imperial  army  and  that  of  the  League  sus- 
tained an  irreparable  loss;  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
was  deprived  of  its  most  zealous  defender,  and  Maximil- 
ian of  Bavaria  of  the  most  faithful  of  his  servants,  who 
sealed  his  fidelity  by  his  death,  and  even  in  his  dying 
moments  fulfilled  the  duties  of  a  general.  His  last  mes- 
sage to  the  Elector  was  an  urgent  advice  to  take  possess- 
ion of  Ratisbon,  in  order  to  maintain  the  command  of  the 
Danube,  and  to  keep  open  the  communication  with 
Bohemia. 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  209 

With  the  confidence  which  was  the  natural  fruit  of  so 
many  victories,  Gustavus  Adolphus  commenced  the  siege 
of  Ingolstadt,  hoping  to  gain  the  town  by  the  fury  of  his 
first  assault.  But  the  strength  of  its  fortifications  and 
the  bravery  of  its  garrison  presented  obstacles  greater 
than  any  he  had  had  to  encounter  since  the  battle  of 
Breitenfeld,  and  the  walls  of  Ingolstadt  were  near  putting 
an  end  to  his  career.  While  reconnoitring  the  works  a 
twenty-four-pounder  killed  his  horse  under  him  and  he 
fell  to  the  ground,  while  almost  immediately  afterwards 
another  ball  struck  his  favorite,  the  young  Margrave  of 
Baden,  by  his  side.  With  perfect  self-possession  the  king 
rose  and  quieted  the  fears  of  his  troops  by  immediately 
mounting  another  horse. 

The  occupation  of  Ratisbon  by  the  Bavarians,  who,  by 
the  advice  of  Tilly,  had  surprised  this  town  by  stratagem, 
and  placed  in  it  a  strong  garrison,  quickly  changed  the 
king's  plan  of  operations.  He  had  flattered  himself  with 
the  hope  of  gaining  this  town,  which  favored  the  Prot- 
estant cause,  and  to  find  in  it  an  ally  as  devoted  to  him  as 
Nuremberg,  Augsburg,  and  Frankfort.  Its  seizure  by 
the  Bavarians  seemed  to  postpone  for  a  long  time  the 
fulfilment  of  his  favorite  project  of  making  himself  mas- 
ter of  the  Danube,  and  cutting  off  his  adversaries'  sup- 
plies from  Bohemia.  He  suddenly  raised  the  siege  of 
Ingoldstadt,  before  which  he  had  wasted  both  his  time 
and  his  troops,  and  penetrated  into  the  interior  of  Bavaria, 
in  order  to  draw  the  Elector  into  that  quarter  for  the 
defence  of  his  territories,  and  thus  to  strip  the  Danube 
of  its  defenders. 

The  whole  country  as  far  as  Munich  now  lay  open  to 
the  conqueror.  Mosberg,  Landshut,  and  the  whole  terri- 
tory of  Freysingen  submitted ;  nothing  could  resist  his 
arms.  But  if  he  met  with  no  regular  force  to  oppose  his 
progress  he  had  to  contend  against  a  still  more  implac- 
able enemy  in  the  heart  of  every  Bavarian  —  religious 
fanaticism.  Soldiers  who  did  not  believe  in  the  Pope 
were,  in  this  country,  a  new  and  unheard-of  phenomenon  ; 
the  blind  zeal  of  the  priests  represented  them  to  the 
peasantry  as  monsters,  the  children  of  hell,  and  their 
leader  as  Antichrist.  No  wonder,  then,  if  they  thought 


210  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

themselves  released  from  all  the  ties  of  nature  and  human- 
ity towards  this  brood  of  Satan,  and  justified  in  commit- 
ting the  most  savage  atrocities  upon  them.  Woe  to  the 
Swedish  soldier  who  fell  into  their  hands!  All  the 
torments  which  inventive  malice  could  devise  were  exer- 
cised upon  these  unhappy  victims ;  and  the  sight  of  their 
mangled  bodies  exasperated  the  army  to  a  fearful  retalia- 
tion. Gustavus  Adolphus,  alone,  sullied  the  lustre  of  his 
heroic  character  by  no  act  of  revenge ;  and  the  aversion 
which  the  Bavarians  felt  towards  his  religion,  far  from 
making  him  depart  from  the  obligations  of  humanity 
towards  that  unfortunate  people,  seemed  to  impose  upon 
him  the  stricter  duty  to  honor  his  religion  by  a  more 
constant  clemency. 

The  approach  of  the  king  spread  terror  and  conster- 
nation in  the  capital,  which,  stripped  of  its  defenders, 
and  abandoned  by  its  principal  inhabitants,  placed  all  its 
hopes  in  the  magnanimity  of  the  conqueror.  By  an 
unconditional  and  voluntary  surrender  it  hoped  to  dis- 
arm his  vengeance  ;  and  sent  deputies  even  to  Freysingen 
to  lay  at  his  feet  the  keys  of  the  city.  Strongly  as  the 
king  might  have  been  tempted  by  the  inhumanity  of  the 
Bavarians,  and  the  hostility  of  their  sovereign,  to  make 
a  dreadful  use  of  the  rights  of  victory ;  pressed  as  he 
was  by  Germans  to  avenge  the  fate  of  Magdeburg  on  the 
capital  of  its  destroyer,  this  great  prince  scorned  tins 
mean  revenge;  and  the  very  helplessness  of  his  enemies 
disarmed  his  severity.  Contented  with  the  more  noble 
triumph  of  conducting  the  Palatine  Frederick  with  the 
pomp  of  a  victor  into  the  very  palace  of  the  prince  who 
had  been  the  chief  instrument  of  his  ruin,  and  the  usurper 
of  his  territories,  he  heightened  the  brilliancy  of  his  tri- 
umphal entry  by  the  brighter  splendor  of  moderation 
and  clemency. 

The  king  found  in  Munich  only  a  forsaken  palace,  for 
the  Elector's  treasures  had  been  transported  to  Werfen. 
The  magnificence  of  the  building  astonished  him  ;  and  he 
asked  the  guide  who  showed  the  apartments  who  was  the 
architect.  "  No  other,"  replied  he,  "  than  the  Elector 
himself."  "I  wish,"  said  the  king,  "I  had  this  archi- 
tect to  send  to  Stockholm."  "  That,"  he  was  answered, 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  211 

"the  architect  will  take  care  to  prevent."  When  the 
arsenal  was  examined,  they  found  nothing  but  carrriages, 
stripped  of  their  cannon.  The  latter  had  been  so  artfully 
concealed  under  the  floor  that  no  traces  of  them  re- 
mained ;  and  but  for  the  treachery  of  a  workman,  the 
deceit  would  not  have  been  detected.  "  Rise  up  from 
the  dead,"  said  the  king,  "and  come  to  judgment." 
The  floor  was  pulled  up,  and  one  hundred  and  forty 
pieces  of  cannon  discovered,  some  of  extraordinary  cal- 
ibre, which  had  been  principally  taken  in  the  Palatinate 
and  Bohemia.  A  treasure  of  thirty  thousand  gold  ducats, 
concealed  in  one  of  the  largest,  completed  the  pleasure 
which  the  king  received  from  this  valuable  acquisition. 

A  far  more  welcome  spectacle  still  would  have  been 
the  Bavarian  army  itself ;  for  his  march  into  the  heart  of 
Bavaria  had  been  undertaken  chiefly  with  the  view  of 
luring  them  from  their  intrenchments.  In  this  expec- 
tation he  was  disappointed.  No  enemy  appeared;  no 
entreaties,  however  urgent,  on  the  part  of  his  subjects, 
could  induce  the  Elector  to  risk  the  remainder  of  his 
army  to  the  chances  of  a  battle.  Shut  up  in  Ratisbon,  he 
awaited  the  reinforcements  which  Wallenstein  was  bring- 
ing from  Bohemia ;  and  endeavored,  in  the  meantime, 
to  amuse  his  enemy  and  keep  him  inactive  by  reviving 
the  negotiation  for  a  neutrality.  But  the  king  s  distrust, 
too  often  and  too  justly  excited  by  his  previous  conduct, 
frustrated  this  design  ;  and  the  intentional  delay  of  Wal- 
lenstein abandoned  Bavaria  to  the  Swedes. 

Thus  far  had  Gustavus  advanced  from  victory  to  victory 
without  meeting  with  an  enemy  able  to  cope  with  him. 
A  pai-t  of  Bavaria  and  Swabia,  the  bishoprics  of  Fran- 
conia,  the  Lower  Palatinate,  and  the  archbishopric  of 
Mentz  lay  conquered  in  his  rear.  An  uninterrupted 
career  of  conquest  had  conducted  him  to  the  threshold 
of  Austria ;  and  the  most  brilliant  success  had  fully  jus- 
tified the  plan  of  operations  which  he  had  formed  after 
the  battle  of  Breitenfeld.  If  he  had  not  succeeded  to  his 
wish  in  promoting  a  confederacy  among  the  Protestant 
States,  he  had  at  least  disarmed  or  weakened  the  League, 
carried  on  the  war  chiefly  at  its  expense,  lessened  the 
Emperor's  resources,  emboldened  the  weaker  States,  and 


212  THE   THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

while  he  laid  under  contribution  the  allies  of  the  Emperor, 
forced  a  way  through  their  territories  into  Austria  itself. 
Where  arms  were  unavailing,  the  greatest  service  was 
rendered  by  the  friendship  of  the  free  cities,  whose  affec- 
tions he  had  gained  by  the  double  ties  of  policy  and 
religion ;  and,  as  long  as  he  should  maintain  his  superi- 
ority in  the  field,  he  might  reckon  on  everything  from 
their  zeal.  By  his  conquests  on  the  Rhine,  the  Spaniards 
were  cut  off  from  the  Lower  Palatinate,  even  if  the  state 
of  the  war  in  the  Netherlands  left  them  at  liberty  to 
interfere  in  the  affairs  of  Germany.  The  Duke  of  Lor- 
raine, too,  after  his  unfortunate  campaign,  had  been  glad 
to  adopt  a  neutrality.  Even  the  numerous  garrisons  he 
had  left  behind  him  in  his  progress  through  Germany 
had  not  diminished  his  army;  and,  fresh  and  vigorous  as 
when  he  first  began  his  march,  he  now  stood  in  the  centre 
of  Bavaria,  determined  and  prepared  to  carry  the  war 
into  the  heart  of  Austria. 

While  Gustavus  Adolphus  thus  maintained  his  superi- 
ority within  the  empire,  fortune,  in  another  quarter,  had 
been  no  less  favorable  to  his  ally,  the  Elector  of  Saxony. 
By  the  arrangement  concerted  between  these  princes  at 
Halle,  after  the  battle  of  Leipzig,  the  conquest  of  Bohemia 
was  intrusted  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  while  the  king 
reserved  for  himself  the  attack  upon  the  territories  of  the 
League.  The  first  fruits  which  the  Elector  reaped  from 
the  battle  of  Breitenfeld,  was  the  reconquest  of  Leipzig, 
which  was  shortly  followed  by  the  expulsion  of  the  Aus- 
trian garrisons  from  the  entire  circle.  Reinforced  by  the 
troops  who  deserted  to  him  from  the  hostile  garrisons, 
the  Saxon  General,  Arnheim,  marched  towards  Lusatia, 
which  had  been  overrun  by  an  Imperial  general,  Rudolph 
von  Tiefenbach,  in  order  to  chastise  the  Elector  for  em- 
bracing the  cause  of  the  enemy.  He  had  already  com- 
menced in  this  weakly  defended  province  the  usual  course 
of  devastation,  taken  several  towns,  and  terrified  Dresden 
itself  by  his  approach,  when  his  destructive  progress  was 
suddenly  stopped  by  an  express  mandate  from  the  Em- 
peror to  spare  the  possessions  of  the  King  of  Saxony. 

Ferdinand  had  perceived  too  late  the  errors  of  that 
policy,  which  had  reduced  the  Elector  of  Saxony  to 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  213 

extremities,  and  forcibly  driven  this  powerful  monarch 
into  an  alliance  with  Sweden.  By  moderation,  equally  ill- 
timed,  he  now  wished  to  repair  if  possible  the  consequences 
of  his  haughtiness ;  and  thus  committed  a  second  error  in 
endeavoring  to  repair  the  first.  To  deprive  his  enemy 
of  so  powerful  an  ally,  he  had  opened,  through  the  inter- 
vention of  Spain,  a  negotiation  with  the  Elector ;  and  in 
order  to  facilitate  an  accommodation,  Tiefenbach  was 
ordered  immediately  to  retire  from  Saxony.  But  these 
concessions  of  the  Emperor,  far  from  producing  the 
desired  effect,  only  revealed  to  the  Elector  the  embar- 
rassment of  his  adversary  and  his  own  importance,  and 
emboldened  him  the  more  to  prosecute  the  advantages 
he  had  already  obtained.  How  could  he,  moreover,  with- 
out becoming  chargeable  with  the  most  shameful  ingrat- 
itude, abandon  an  ally  to  whom  he  had  given  the  most 
solemn  assurances  of  fidelity,  and  to  whom  he  was  in- 
debted for  the  preservation  of  his  dominions,  and  even 
of  his  Electoral  dignity? 

The  Saxon  army,  now  relieved  from  the  necessity  of 
marching  into  Lusatia,  advanced  towards  Bohemia,  where 
a  combination  of  favorable  circumstances  seemed  to 
insure  them  an  easy  victory.  In  this  kingdom,  the  first 
scene  of  this  fatal  war,  the  flames  of  dissension  still 
smouldered  beneath  the  ashes,  while  the  discontent  of 
the  inhabitants  was  fomented  by  daily  acts  of  oppression 
and  tyranny.  On  every  side  this  unfortunate  country 
showed  signs  of  a  mournful  change.  Whole  districts  had 
changed  their  proprietors,  and  groaned  under  the  hated 
yoke  of  Roman  Catholic  masters,  whom  the  favor  of  the 
Emperor  and  the  Jesuits  had  enriched  with  the  plunder 
and  possessions  of  the  exiled  Protestants.  Others,  taking 
advantage  themselves  of  the  general  distress,  had  pur- 
chased, at  a  low  rate,  the  confiscated  estates.  The  blood 
of  the  most  eminent  champions  of  liberty  had  been  shed 
upon  the  scaffold  ;  and  such  as  by  a  timely  flight  avoided 
that  fate  were  wandering  in  misery  far  from  their  native 
land,  while  the  obsequious  slaves  of  despotism  enjoyed 
their  patrimony.  Still  more  insupportable  than  the 
oppression  of  these  petty  tyrants,  was  the  restraint  of 
conscience  which  was  imposed  without  distinction  on  all 


214  THE  THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

the  Protestants  of  that  kingdom.  No  external  danger, 
no  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  nation,  however  stead- 
fast, not  even  the  fearful  lessons  of  past  experience  could 
check  in  the  Jesuits  the  rage  of  proselytism ;  where  fair 
means  were  ineffectual,  recourse  was  had  to  military 
force  to  bring  the  deluded  wanderers  within  the  pale  of 
the  church.  The  inhabitants  of  Joachimsthal,  on  the 
frontiers  between  Bohemia  and  Meissen,  were  the  chief 
sufferers  from  this,  violence.  Two  imperial  commissaries, 
accompanied  by  as  many  Jesuits,  and  supported  by 
fifteen  musketeers,  made  their  appearance  in  this  peace- 
ful valley  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  heretics.  Where 
the  rhetoric  of  the  former  was  ineffectual,  the  forcibly 
quartering  the  latter  upon  the  houses,  and  threats  of 
banishment  and  fines  were  tried.  But  on  this  occasion, 
the  good  cause  prevailed,  and  the  bold  resistance  of  this 
small  district  compelled  the  Emperor  disgracefully  to 
recall  his  mandate  of  conversion.  The  example  of  the 
court  had,  however,  afforded  a  precedent  to  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  the  empire,  and  seemed  to  justify  every  act 
of  oppression  which  their  insolence  tempted  them  to 
wreak  upon  the  Protestants.  It  is  not  surprising,  then, 
if  this  persecuted  party  was  favorable  to  a  revolution, 
and  saw  with  pleasure  their  deliverers  on  the  frontiers. 

The  Saxon  army  was  already  on  its  march  towards 
Prague,  the  imperial  garrisons  everywhere  retired  before 
them ;  Schloeckenau,  Tetschen,  Aussig,  Leutmeritz,  soon 
fell  into  the  enemy's  hands,  and  every  Roman  Catholic 
place  was  abandoned  to  plunder.  Consternation  seized 
all  the  Papists  of  the  Empire ;  and  conscious  of  the  out- 
rages which  they  themselves  had  committed  on  the 
Protestants,  they  did  not  venture  to  abide  the  vengeful 
arrival  of  a  Protestant  army.  All  the  Roman  Catholics 
who  had  anything  to  lose  fled  hastily  from  the  country 
to  the  capital,  which  again  they  presently  abandoned. 
Prague  was  unprepared  for  an  attack,  and  was  too 
weakly  garrisoned  to  sustain  a  long  siege.  Too  late  had 
the  Emperor  resolved  to  despatch  Field-Marshal  Tiefen- 
bach  to  the  defence  of  this  capital.  Before  the  imperial 
orders  could  reach  the  headquarters  of  that  general,  in 
Silesia,  the  Saxons  were  already  close  to  Prague,  the 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  215 

Protestant  inhabitants  of  which  showed  little  zeal,  while 
the  weakness  of  the  garrison  left  no  room  to  hope  a  long 
resistance.  In  this  fearful  state  of  embarrassment  the 
Roman  Catholics  of  Prague  looked  for  security  to  Wal- 
lenstein,  who  now  lived  in  that  city  as  a  private  in- 
dividual. But  far  from  lending  his  military  experience, 
and  the  weight  of  his  name,  towards  its  defence,  he 
seized  the  favorable  opportunity  to  satiate  his  thirst  for 
revenge.  If  he  did  not  actually  invite  the  Saxons  to 
Prague,  at  least  his  conduct  facilitated  its  capture. 
Though  unprepared,  the  town  might  still  hold  out  until 
succors  could  arrive ;  and  an  imperial  colonel,  Count 
Maradas,  showed  serious  intentions  of  undertaking  its 
defence.  But  without  command  and  authority,  and 
having  no  support  but  his  own  zeal  and  courage,  he  did 
not  dare  to  venture  upon  such  a  step  without  the  advice  of 
a  superior.  He  therefore  consulted  the  Duke  of  Fried- 
land,  whose  approbation  might  supply  the  want  of  au- 
thority from  the  Emperor,  and  to  whom  the  Bohemian 
generals  were  referred  by  an  express  edict  of  the  court  in 
the  last  extremity.  He,  however,  artfully  excused  him- 
self, on  the  plea  of  holding  no  official  appointment,  and 
his  long  retirement  from  the  political  world  ;  while  he 
weakened  the  resolution  of  the  subalterns  by  the  scruples 
which  he  suggested,  and  painted  in  the  strongest  colors. 
At  last,  to  render  the  consternation  general  and  complete, 
he  quitted  the  capital  with  his  whole  court,  however 
little  he  had  to  fear  from  its  capture  ;  and  the  city  was 
lost,  because,  by  his  departure,  he  showed  that  he  de- 
spaired of  its  safety.  His  example  was  followed  by  all 
the  Roman  Catholic  nobility,  the  generals  with  their 
troops,  the  clergy,  and  all  the  officers  of  the  crown.  All 
night  the  people  were  employed  in  saving  their  persons 
and  effects.  The  roads  to  Vienna  were  crowded  with 
fugitives,  who  scarcely  recovered  from  their  consternation 
till  they  reached  the  imperial  city.  Maradas  himself,  de- 
spairing of  the  safety  of  Prague,  followed  the  rest,  and  led 
his  small  detachment  to  Tabor,  where  he  awaited  the  event. 
Profound  silence  reigned  in  Prague,  when  the  Saxons 
next  morning  appeared  before  it;  no  preparations  were 
made  for  defence;  not  a  single  shot  from  the  walls 


216  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

announced  an  intention  of  resistance.  On  the  contrary, 
a  crowd  of  spectators  from  the  town,  allured  by  curiosity, 
came  flocking  round,  to  behold  the  foreign  army ;  and 
the  peaceful  confidence  with  which  they  advanced  re- 
sembled a  friendly  salutation  more  than  a  hostile  recep- 
tion. From  the  concurrent  reports  of  these  people  the 
Swedes  learned  that  the  town  had  been  deserted  by  the 
troops,  and  that  the  government  had  fled  to  Budweiss. 
This  unexpected  and  inexplicable  absence  of  resistance 
excited  Arnheim's  distrust  the  more,  as  the  speedy 
approach  of  the  Silesian  succors  was  no  secret  to  him, 
and  as  he  knew  that  the  Saxon  army  was  too  indifferently 
provided  with  materials  for  undertaking  a  siege,  and  by 
far  too  weak  in  numbers  to  attempt  to  take  the  place  by 
storm.  Apprehensive  of  stratagem,  he  redoubled  his 
vigilance ;  and  he  continued  in  this  conviction  until 
Wallenstein's  house-steward,  whom  he  discovered  among 
the  crowd,  confirmed  to  him  this  intelligence.  "  The 
town  is  ours  without  a  blow!"  exclaimed  he  in  astonish- 
ment to  his  officers,  and  immediately  summoned  it  by  a 
trumpeter. 

The  citizens  of  Prague,  thus  shamefully  abandoned  by 
their  defenders,  had  long  taken  their  resolution  ;  all  that 
they  had  to  do  was  to  secure  their  properties  and  liberties 
by  an  advantageous  capitulation.  No  sooner  was  the 
treaty  signed  by  the  Saxon  general,  in  his  master's  name, 
than  the  gates  were  opened,without  farther  opposition ; 
and  upon  the  llth  of  November,  1631,  the  army  made 
their  triumphal  entry.  The  Elector  soon  after  followed 
in  person,  to  receive  the  homage  of  those  whom  he  had 
newly  taken  under  his  protection  :  for  it  was  only  in  the 
character  of  protector  that  the  three  towns  of  Prague  had 
surrendered  to  him.  Their  allegiance  to  the  Austrian 
monarchy  was  not  to  be  dissolved  by  the  step  they  had 
taken.  In  proportion  as  the  Papists'  apprehensions  of 
reprisals  on  the  part  of  the  Protestants  had  been  exag- 
gerated, so  was  their  surprise  great  at  the  moderation  of 
the  Elector,  and  the  discipline  of  his  troops.  Field- 
Marshal  Arnheim  plainly  evinced,  on  this  occasion,  his 
respect  for  Wallenstein.  Not  content  with  sparing  his 
estates  on  his  march,  he  now  placed  guards  over  his 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  217 

palace,  in  Prague,  to  prevent  the  plunder  of  any  of  his 
effects.  The  Roman  Catholics  of  the  town  were  allowed 
the  fullest  liberty  of  conscience ;  and  of  all  the  churches 
they  had  wrested  from  the  Protestants  four  only  were 
now  taken  back  from  them.  From  this  general  indulg- 
ence none  were  excluded  but  the  Jesuits,  who  were 
generally  considered  as  the  authors  of  all  past  grievances, 
and  thus  banished  the  kingdom. 

John  George  belied  not  the  submission  and  dependence 
with  which  the  terror  of  the  imperial  name  inspired  him  ; 
nor  did  he  indulge  at  Prague  in  a  course  of  conduct 
which  would  assuredly  have  been  pursued  against  himself 
in  Dresden  by  imperial  generals,  such  as  Tilly  or  Wallen- 
stein.  He  carefully  distinguished  between  the  enemy 
with  whom  he  was  at  war,  and  the  head  of  the  Empire, 
to  whom  he  owed  obedience.  He  did  not  venture  to 
touch  the  household  furniture  of  the  latter,  while,  with- 
out scruple,  he  appropriated  and  transported  to  Dresden 
the  cannon  of  the  former.  He  did  not  take  up  his  resi- 
dence in  the  imperial  palace,  but  the  house  of  Lichten- 
stein  ;  too  modest  to  use  the  apartments  of  one  whom  he 
had  deprived  of  a  kingdom.  Had  this  trait  been  related 
of  a  great  man  and  a  hero  it  would  irresistibly  excite 
our  admiration  ;  but  the  character  of  this  prince  leaves  us 
in  doubt  whether  this  moderation  ought  to  be  ascribed  to 
a  noble  self-command  or  to  the  littleness  of  a  weak  mind, 
which  even  good  fortune  could  not  embolden,  and  liberty 
itself  could  not  strip  of  its  habituated  fetters. 

The  surrender  of  Prague,  which  was  quickly  followed 
by  that  of  most  of  the  other  towns,  effected  a  great  and 
sudden  change  in  Bohemia.  Many  of  the  Protestant 
nobility,  who  had  hitherto  been  wandering  about  in 
misery  now  returned  to  their  native  country ;  and  Count 
Thurn,  the  famous  author  of  the  Bohemian  insurrection, 
enjoyed  the  triumph  of  returning  as  a  conqueror  to  the 
scene  of  his  crime  and  his  condemnation.  Over  the  very 
bridge  where  the  heads  of  his  adherents,  exposed  to  view, 
held  out  a  fearful  picture  of  the  fate  which  had  threatened 
himself,  he  now  made  his  triumphal  entry ;  and  to  re- 
move these  ghastly  objects  was  his  first  care.  The  exiles 
again  took  possession  of  their  properties,  without  think- 


218  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

ing  of  recompensing  for  the  purchase-money  the  present 
possessors,  who  had  mostly  taken  to  flight.  Even  though 
they  had  received  a  price  for  their  estates,  they  seized  on 
everything  which  had  once  been  their  own ;  and  many 
had  reason  to  rejoice  at  the  economy  of  the  late  posses- 
sors. The  lands  and  cattle  had  greatly  improved  in  their 
hands;  the  apartments  were  now  decorated  with  the 
most  costly  furniture ;  the  cellars,  which  had  been  left 
empty,  were  richly  filled  ;  the  stables  supplied  ;  the  mag- 
azines stored  with  provisions.  But  distrusting  the  con- 
stancy of  that  good  fortune  which  had  so  unexpectedly 
smiled  upon  them,  they  hastened  to  get  quit  of  these 
insecure  possessions,  and  to  convert  their  immovable  into 
transferable  property. 

The  presence  of  the  Saxons  inspired  all  the  Protestants 
of  the  kingdom  with  courage;  and  both  in  the  country 
and  the  capital  crowds  flocked  to  the  newly-opened 
Protestant  churches.  Many,  whom  fear  alone  had  re- 
tained in  their  adherence  to  Popery,  now  openly  pro- 
fessed the  new  doctrine;  and  many  of  the  late  converts 
to  Roman  Catholicism  gladly  renounced  a  compulsory 
persuasion  to  follow  the  earlier  conviction  of  their  con- 
science. All  the  moderation  of  the  new  regency  could 
not  restrain  the  manifestation  of  that  just  displeasure 
which  this  persecuted  people  felt  against  their  oppressors. 
They  made  a  fearful  and  cruel  use  of  their  newly-recov- 
ered rights;  and,  in  many  parts  of  the  kingdom,  their 
hatred  of  the  religion  which  they  had  been  compelled 
to  profess  could  be  satiated  only  by  the  blood  of  its 
adherents. 

Meantime  the  succors  which  the  imperial  generals, 
Goetz  and  Tiefenbach,  were  conducting  from  Silesia,  had 
entered  Bohemia,  where  they  were  joined  by  some  of 
Tilly's  regiments,  from  the  Upper  Palatinate.  In  order 
to  disperse  them  before  they  should  receive  any  further 
reinforcements,  Arnheim  advanced  with  part  of  his  army 
from  Prague,  and  made  a  vigorous  attack  on  their  in- 
trenchments  near  Limburg,  on  the  Elbe.  After  a  severe 
action,  not  without  great  loss,  he  drove  the  enemy  from 
their  fortified  camp,  and  forced  them,  by  his  heavy  fire, 
to  recross  the  Elbe,  and  to  destroy  the  bridge  which  they 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  219 

had  built  over  that  river.  Nevertheless,  the  Imperialists 
obtained  the  advantage  in  several  skirmishes,  and  the 
Croats  pushed  their  incursions  to  the  very  gates  of 
Prague.  Brilliant  and  promising  as  the  opening  of  the 
Bohemian  campaign  had  been,  the  issue  by  no  means 
satisfied  the  expectations  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  Instead 
of  vigorously  following  up  their  advantages,  by  forcing  a 
passage  to  the  Swedish  army  through  the  conquered 
country,  and  then,  with  it,  attacking  the  imperial  power 
in  its  centre,  the  Saxons  weakened  themselves  in  a  war  of 
skirmishes,  in  which  they  were  not  always  successful, 
while  they  lost  the  time  which  should  have  been  devoted 
to  greater  undei'takings.  But  the  Elector's  subsequent 
conduct  betrayed  the  motives  which  had  prevented  him 
from  pushing  his  advantage  over  the  Emperor,  and  by 
consistent  measures  promoting  the  plans  of  the  King  of 
Sweden. 

The  Emperor  had  now  lost  the  greater  part  of  Bohe- 
mia, and  the  Saxons  were  advancing  against  Austria, 
while  the  Swedish  monarch  was  rapidly  moving  to  the 
same  point  through  Franconia,  Swabia,  and  Bavaria.  A 
long  war  had  exhausted  the  strength  of  the  Austrian 
monarchy,  wasted  the  country,  and  diminished  its  armies. 
The  renown  of  its  victories  was  no  more,  as  well  as  the 
confidence  inspired  by  constant  success;  its  troops  had 
lost  the  obedience  and  discipline  to  which  those  of  the 
Swedish  monarch  owed  all  their  superiority  in  the  field. 
The  confederates  of  the  Emperor  were  disarmed,  or  their 
fidelity  shaken  by  the  danger  which  threatened  them- 
selves. Even  Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  Austria's  most 
powerful  ally,  seemed  disposed  to  yield  to  the  seductive 
proposition  "of  neutrality ;  while  his  suspicious  alliance 
with  France  had  long  been  a  subject  of  apprehension  to 
the  Emperor.  The  Bishops  of  Wurtzburg  and  Bamberg, 
the  Elector  of  Mentz,  and  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  were 
either  expelled  from  their  territories,  or  threatened  with 
immediate  attack;  Treves  had  placed  itself  under  the 
protection  of  France.  The  bravery  of  the  Hollanders 
gave  full  employment  to  the  Spanish  arms  in  the  Nether- 
lands ;  while  Gustavus  had  driven  them  from  the  Rhine. 
Poland  was  still  fettered  by  the  truce  which  subsisted 


220  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

between  that  country  and  Sweden.  The  Hungarian  front- 
ier was  threatened  by  the  Transylvanian  Prince,  Kagotsky, 
a  successor  of  Bethlem  Gabor,  and  the  inheritor  of  his 
restless  mind ;  while  the  Porte  was  making  great  prepa- 
ration to  profit  by  the  favorable  conjuncture  for  aggres- 
sion. Most  of  the  Protestant  states,  encouraged  by  their 
protector's  success,  were  openly  and  actively  declaring 
against  the  Emperor.  All  the  resources  which  had  been 
obtained  by  the  violent  and  oppressive  extortions  of  Tilly 
and  Wallenstein  were  exhausted  ;  all  these  depots,  maga- 
zines, and  rallying-points  were  now  lost  to  the  Emperor ; 
and  the  war  could  no  longer  be  carried  on,  as  before,  at 
the  cost  of  others.  To  complete  his  embarrassment,  a 
dangerous  insurrection  broke  out  in  the  territory  of  the 
Ens,  where  the  ill-timed  religious  zeal  of  the  government 
had  provoked  the  Protestants  to  resistance;  and  thus 
fanaticism  lit  its  torch  within  the  empire,  while  a  foreign 
enemy  was  already  on  its  frontier.  After  so  long  a  con- 
tinuance of  good  fortune,  such  brilliant  victories  and  ex- 
tensive conquests,  such  fruitless  effusion  of  blood,  the 
Emperor  saw  himself  a  second  time  on  the  brink  of  that 
abyss  into  which  he  was  so  near  falling  at  the  commence- 
ment of  his  reign.  If  Bavaria  should  embrace  the  neu- 
trality ;  if  Saxony  should  resist  the  tempting  offers  he 
had  held  out ;  and  France  resolve  to  attack  the  Spanish 
power  at  the  same  time  in  the  Netherlands,  in  Italy,  and 
in  Catalonia,  the  ruin  of  Austria  would  be  complete ;  the 
allied  powers  would  divide  its  spoils,  and  the  political 
system  of  Germany  would  undergo  a  total  change. 

The  chain  of  these  disasters  began  with  the  battle  of 
Breitenfeld,  the  unfortunate  issue  of  which  plainly  re- 
vealed the  long-decided  decline  of  the  Austrian  power, 
whose  weakness  had  hitherto  been  concealed  under  the 
dazzling  glitter  of  a  grand  name.  The  chief  cause  of  the 
Swedes'  superiority  in  the  field  was  evidently  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  unlimited  power  of  their  leader,  who  con- 
centrated in  himself  the  whole  strength  of  his  party ;  and, 
unfettered  in  his  enterprises  by  any  higher  authority,  was 
complete  master  of  every  favorable  opportunity,  could 
control  all  his  means  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  ends, 
and  was  responsible  to  none  but  himself.  But  since 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  221 

Wallenstein's  dismissal,  and  Tilly's  defeat,  the  very  re- 
verse of  this  course  was  pursued  by  the  Emperor  and  the 
League.  The  generals  wanted  authority  over  their  troops, 
and  liberty  of  acting  at  their  discretion ;  the  soldiers 
were  deficient  in  discipline  and  obedience ;  the  scattered 
corps  in  combined  operation  ;  the  states  in  attachment  to 
the  cause ;  the  leaders  in  harmony  among  themselves,  in 
quickness  to  resolve,  and  firmness  to  execute.  What 
gave  the  Emperor's  enemy  so  decided  an  advantage  over 
him  was  not  so  much  their  superior  power  as  their  man- 
ner of  using  it.  The  League  and  the  Emperor  did  not 
want  means,  but  a  mind  capable  of  directing  them  with 
energy  and  effect.  Even  had  Count  Tilly  not  lost  his 
old  renown,  distrust  of  Bavaria  would  not  allow  the  Em- 
peror to  place  the  fate  of  Austria  in  the  hands  of  one  who 
had  never  concealed  his  attachment  to  the  Bavarian 
Elector.  The  urgent  want  which  Ferdinand  felt  was 
for  a  general  possessed  of  sufficient  experience  to  form 
and  to  command  an  army,  and  willing  at  the  same  time 
to  dedicate  his  services,  with  blind  devotion,  to  the  Aus- 
trian monarchy. 

This  choice  now  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Em- 
peror's privy  council,  and  divided  the  opinions  of  its 
members.  In  order  to  oppose  one  monarch  to  another, 
and  by  the  presence  of  their  sovereign  to  animate  the 
courage  of  the  troops,  Ferdinand,  in  the  ardor  of  the 
moment,  had  offered  himself  to  be  the  leader  of  his  army; 
but  little  trouble  was  required  to  overturn  a  resolution 
which  was  the  offspring  of  despair  alone,  and  which 
yielded  at  once  to  calm  reflection.  But  the  situation 
which  his  dignity,  and  the  duties  of  administration,  pre- 
vented the  Emperor  from  holding,  might  be  filled  by  his 
son,  a  youth  of  talents  and  bravery,  and  of  whom  the 
subjects  of  Austria  had  already  formed  great  expecta- 
tions. Called  by  his  birth  to  the  defence  of  a  monarchy, 
of  whose  crowns  he  wore  two  already,  Ferdinand  III., 
King  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  united,  with  the  natural 
dignity  of  heir  to  the  throne,  the  respect  of  the  army,  and 
the  attachment  of  the  people,  whose  co-operation  was  in- 
dispensable to  him  in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  None  but 
the  beloved  heir  to  the  crown  could  venture  to  impose 


222  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

new  burdens  on  a  people  already  severely  oppressed ;  his 
personal  presence  with  the  army  could  alone  suppress  the 
pernicious  jealousies  of  the  several  leaders,  and,  by  the 
influence  of  his  name,  restore  the  neglected  discipline  of 
the  troops  to  its  former  rigor.  If  so  young  a  leader  was 
devoid  of  the  maturity  of  judgment,  prudence,  and  mili- 
tary experience,  which  practice  alone  could  impart,  this 
deficiency  might  be  supplied  by  a  judicious  choice  of 
counsellors  and  assistants,  who,  under  the  cover  of  his 
name,  might  be  vested  with  supreme  authority. 

But  plausible  as  were  the  arguments  with  which  a  part 
of  the  ministry  supported  this  plan,  it  was  met  by  diffi- 
culties not  less  serious,  arising  from  the  distrust,  perhaps 
even  the  jealousy  of  the  Emperor,  and  also  from  the  des- 
perate state  of  affairs.  How  dangerous  was  it  to  entrust 
the  fate  of  the  monarchy  to  a  youth  who  was  himself  in 
need  of  counsel  and  support !  How  hazardous  to  oppose 
to  the  greatest  general  of  his  age  a  tyro,  whose  fitness  for 
so  important  a  post  had  never  yet  been  tested  by  expe- 
rience ;  whose  name,  as  yet  unknown  to  fame,  was  far  too 
powerless  to  inspire  a  dispirited  army  with  the  assurance 
of  future  victory!  What  a  new  burden  on  the  coun- 
try, to  support  the  state  a  royal  leader  was  required  to 
maintain,  and  which  the  prejudices  of  the  age  considered 
as  inseparable  from  his  presence  with  the  army!  How 
serious  a  consideration  for  the  prince  himself,  to  com- 
mence his  political  career  with  an  office  which  must  make 
him  the  scourge  of  his  people,  and  the  oppressor  of  the 
territories  which  he  was  hereafter  to  rule. 

But  not  only  was  a  general  to  be  found  for  the  army ; 
an  army  must  also  be  found  for  the  general.  Since  the 
compulsory  resignation  of  Wallenstein  the  Emperor  had 
defended  himself  more  by  the  assistance  of  Bavaria  and 
the  League  than  by  his  own  armies ;  and  it  was  this  de- 
pendence on  equivocal  allies  which  he  was  endeavoring 
to  escape  by  the  appointment  of  a  general  of  his  own. 
But  what  possibility  was  there  of  raising  an  army  out  of 
nothing,  without  the  all-powerful  aid  of  gold,  and  the 
inspiriting  name  of  a  victorious  commander ;  above  all, 
an  army  which,  by  its  discipline,  warlike  spirit,  and  ac- 
tivity should  be  fit  to  cope  with  the  experienced  troops 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  223 

of  the  northern  conqueror  ?  In  all  Europe,  there  was  but 
one  man  equal  to  this,  and  that  one  had  been  mortally 
affronted. 

The  moment  had  at  last  arrived  when  more  than  ordi- 
nary satisfaction  was  to  be  done  to  the  wounded  pride  of 
the  Duke  of  Friedland.  Fate  itself  had  been  his  avenger, 
and  an  unbroken  chain  of  disasters,  which  had  assailed 
Austria  from  the  day  of  his  dismissal,  had  wrung  from 
the  Emperor  the  humiliating  confession  that  with  this 
general  he  had  lost  his  right  arm.  Every  defeat  of  his 
troops  opened  afresh  this  wound ;  every  town  which  he 
lost  revived  in  the  mind  of  the  deceived  monarch  the 
memory  of  his  own  weakness  and  ingratitude.  It  would 
have  been  well  for  him  if,  in  the  offended  general, "he 
had  only  lost  a  leader  of  his  troops,  and  a  defender  of  his 
dominions ;  but  he  was  destined  to  find  in  him  an  enemy, 
and  the  most  dangerous  of  all,  since  he  was  least  armed 
against  the  stroke  of  treason. 

Removed  from  the  theatre  of  war,  and  condemned  to 
irksome  inaction,  while  his  rivals  gathered  laurels  on  the 
field  of  glory,  the  haughty  duke  had  beheld  these  changes 
of  fortune  with  affected  composure,  and  concealed,  under 
a  glittering  and  theatrical  pomp,  the  dark  designs  of  his 
restless  genius.  Torn  by  burning  passions  within,  while 
all  without  bespoke  calmness  and  indifference,  he  brooded 
over  projects  of  ambition  and  revenge,  and  slowly,  but 
surely,  advanced  towards  his  end.  All  that  he  owed  to 
the  Emperor  was  effaced  from  his  mind  ;  what  he  himself 
had  done  for  the  Emperor  was  imprinted  in  burning 
characters  on  his  memory.  To  his  insatiable  thirst  for 
power  the  Emperor's  ingratitude  was  welcome,  as  it 
seemed  to  tear  in  pieces  the  record  of  past  favors,  to 
absolve  from  him  every  obligation  towards  his  former 
benefactor.  In  the  disguise  of  a  righteous  retaliation,  the 
projects  dictated  by  his  ambition  now  appeared  to  him 
just  and  pure.  In  proportion  as  the  external  circle  of 
his  operations  was  narrowed,  the  world  of  hope  expanded 
before  him,  and  his  dreamy  imagination  revelled  in 
boundless  projects,  which,  in  any  mind  but  such  as  his, 
madness  alone  could  have  given  birth  to.  His  services 
had  raised  him  to  the  proudest  height  which  it  was  pos- 


224  THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

sible  for  a  man,  by  his  own  efforts,  to  attain.  Fortune 
had  denied  him  nothing  which  the  subject  and  the  citizen 
could  lawfully  enjoy.  Till  the  moment  of  his  dismissal 
his  demands  had  met  with  no  refusal,  his  ambition  had 
met  with  no  check ;  but  the  blow  which,  at  the  Diet 
of  Ratisbon,  humbled  him,  showed  him  the  difference 
between  original  and  deputed  power,  the  distance  be- 
tween the  subject  and  his  sovereign.  Roused  from  the 
intoxication  of  his  own  greatness  by  this  sudden  reverse 
of  fortune,  he  compared  the  authority  which  he  had 
possessed  with  that  which  had  deprived  him  of  it;  and 
his  ambition  marked  the  steps  which  it  had  yet  to  sur- 
mount upon  the  ladder  of  fortune.  From  the  moment  he 
had  so  bitterly  experienced  the  weight  of  sovereign 
power,  his  efforts  were  directed  to  attain  it  for  himself; 
the  wrong  which  he  himself  had  suffered  made  him  a 
robber.  Had  he  not  been  outraged  by  injustice  he  might 
have  obediently  moved  in  his  orbit  round  the  majesty  of 
the  throne,  satisfied  with  the  glory  of  being  the  brightest 
of  its  satellites.  It  was  only  when  violently  forced  from 
its  sphere,  that  his  wandering  star  threw  in  disorder  the 
system  to  which  it  belonged,  and  came  in  destructive 
collision  with  its  sun. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  had  overrun  the  north  of  Germany; 
one  place  after  another  was  lost ;  and  at  Leipzig  the 
flower  of  the  Austrian  army  had  fallen.  The  intelligence 
of  this  defeat  soon  reached  the  ears  of  Wallenstein,  who, 
in  the  retired  obscurity  of  a  private  station  in  Prague, 
contemplated  from  a  calm  distance  the  tumult  of  war. 
The  news,  which  filled  the  breasts  of  the  Roman  Catholics 
with  'dismay,  announced  to  him  the  return  of  greatness 
and  good  fortune.  For  him  was  Gustavus  Adolphus 
laboring.  Scarce  had  the  king  begun  to  gain  reputation 
by  his  exploits  when  Wallenstein  lost  not  a  moment  to 
court  his  friendship,  and  to  make  common  cause  with  this 
successful  enemy  of  Austria.  The  banished  Count  Thurn 
who  had  long  entered  the  service  of  Sweden,  undertook 
to  convey  Wallenstein's  congratulations  to  the  king,  and 
to  invite  him  to  a  close  alliance  with  the  duke.  Wallen- 
stein required  fifteen  thousand  men  from  the  king;  and 
with  these,  and  the  troops  he  himself  engaged  to  raise,  he 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  225 

undertook  to  conquer  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  to  surprise 
Vienna,  and  drive  his  master,  the  Emperor,  before  him 
into  Italy.  Welcome  as  was  this  unexpected  proposition, 
its  extravagant  promises  were  naturally  calculated  to  ex- 
cite suspicion.  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  too  good  a  judge  of 
merit  to  reject  with  coldness  the  offers  of  one  who  might 
be  so  important  a  friend.  But  when  Wallenstein,  en- 
couraged by  the  favorable  reception  of  his  first  message, 
renewed  it  after  the  battle  of  Breitenfeld,  and  pressed 
for  a  decisive  answer,  the  prudent  monarch  hesitated  to 
trust  his  reputation  to  the  chimerical  projects  of  so  daring 
an  adventurer,  and  to  commit  so  large  a  force  to  the 
honesty  of  a  man  who  felt  no  shame  in  openly  avowing 
himself  a  traitor.  He  excused  himself,  therefore,  on  the 
plea  of  the  weakness  of  his  army,  which,  if  diminished  by 
so  large  a  detachment,  would  certainly  suffer  in  its  march 
through  the  empire ;  and  thus,  perhaps,  by  excess  of 
caution,  lost  an  opportunity  of  putting  an  immediate  end 
to  the  war.  He  afterwards  endeavored  to  renew  the  nego- 
tiations ;  but  the  favorable  moment  was  past,  and  Wallen- 
stein's  offended  pride  never  forgave  the  first  neglect. 

But  the  king's  hesitation,  perhaps,  only  accelerated  the 
breach  which  their  characters  made  inevitable  sooner  or 
later.  Both  framed  by  nature  to  give  laws,  not  to  receive 
them,  they  could  not  long  have  co-operated  in  an  enter- 
prise which  eminently  demanded  mutual  submission  and 
sacrifices.  Wallenstein  was  nothing  where  he  was  not 
everything;  he  must  either  act  with  unlimited  power  or 
not  at  all.  So  cordially,  too,  did  Gustavus  dislike  con- 
trol, that  he  had  almost  renounced  his  advantageous 
alliance  with  France  because  it  threatened  to  fetter  his 
own  independent  judgment.  Wallenstein  was  lost  to  a 
party  if  he  could  not  lead  ;  the  latter  was,  if  possible,  still 
less  disposed  to  obey  the  instructions  of  another.  If  the 
pretensions  of  a  rival  would  be  so  irksome  to  the  Duke  of 
Friedland,  in  the  conduct  of  combined  operations,  in 
the  division  of  the  spoil  they  would  be  insupportable. 
The  proud  monarch  might  condescend  to  accept  the 
assistance  of  a  rebellious  subject  against  the  Emperor, 
and  to  reward  his  valuable  services  with  regal  munifi- 
cence; but  he  never  could  so  far  lose  sight  of  his  owii 


226  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*    WAR. 

dignity,  and  the  majesty  of  royalty,  as  to  bestow  the 
recompense  which  the  extravagant  ambition  of  Wallen- 
stein  demanded ;  and  requite  an  act  of  treason,  however 
useful,  with  a  crown.  In  him,  therefore,  even  if  all 
Europe  should  tacitly  acquiesce,  W alien  stein  had  reason 
to  expect  the  most  decided  and  formidable  opponent  to 
his  views  on  the  Bohemian  crown ;  and  in  all  Europe  he 
was  the  only  one  who  could  enforce  his  opposition. 
Constituted  Dictator  in  Germany  by  Wallenstein  himself, 
he  might  turn  his  arms  against  him,  and  consider  himself 
bound  by  no  obligation  to  one  who  was  himself  a  traitor. 
There  was  no  room  for  a  Wallenstein  under  such  an  ally; 
and  it  was,  apparently,  this  conviction,  and  not  any 
supposed  designs  upon  the  imperial  throne,  that  he 
alluded  to,  when,  after  the  death  of  the  King  of  Sweden, 
he  exclaimed,  "  It  is  well  for  him  and  me  that  he  is  gone. 
The  German  Empire  does  not  require  two  such  leaders." 
His  first  scheme  of  revenge  on  the  house  of  Austria 
had  indeed  failed  ;  but  the  purpose  itself  remained  un- 
alterable ;  the  choice  of  means  alone  was  changed.  What 
he  had  failed  in  effecting  with  the  King  of  Sweden,  he 
hoped  to  obtain  with  less  difficulty  and  more  advantage 
from  the  Elector  of  Saxony.  Him  he  was  as  certain  of 
being  able  to  bend  to  his  views  as  he  had  always  been 
doubtful  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  Having  always  main- 
tained a  good  understanding  with  his  old  friend  Arnheim, 
he  now  made  use  of  him  to  bring  about  an  alliance  with 
Saxony,  by  which  he  hoped  to  render  himself  equally 
formidable  to  the  Emperor  and  the  King  of  Sweden.  He 
had  reason  to  expect  that  a  scheme,  which,  if  successful, 
would  deprive  the  Swedish  monarch  of  his  influence  in 
Germany,  would  be  welcomed  by  the  Elector  of  Saxony, 
who  he  knew  was  jealous  of  the  power  and  offended  at 
the  lofty  pretensions  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  If  he  suc- 
ceeded in  separating  Saxony  from  the  Swedish  alliance, 
and  in  establishing,  conjointly  with  that  power,  a  third 
party  in  the  Empire,  the  fate  of  the  war  would  be  placed 
in  his  hand  ;  and  by  this  single  step  he  would  succeed  "in 
gratifying  his  revenge  against  the  Emperor,  revenging 
the  neglect  of  the  Swedish  monarch,  and  on  the  ruin  of 
both  raising  the  edifice  of  his  own  greatness. 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  227 

But  whatever  course  he  might  follow  in  the  prosecution 
of  his  designs  he  could  not  carry  them  into  effect  with- 
out an  army  entirely  devoted  to  him.  Such  a  force  could 
not  be  secretly  raised  without  its  coming  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  imperial  court,  where  it  would  naturally 
excite  suspicion,  and  thus  frustrate  his  design  in  the  very 
outset.  From  the  army,  too,  the  rebellious  purposes  for 
which  it  was  destined  must  be  concealed  till  the  very 
moment  of  execution,  since  it  could  scarcely  be  expected 
that  they  would  at  once  be  prepared  to  listen  to  the  voice 
of  a  traitor,  and  serve  against  their  legitimate  sovereign. 
Wallenstein,  therefore,  must  raise  it  publicly,  and  in 
name  of  the  Emperor,  and  be  placed  at  its  head,  with 
unlimited  authority,  by  the  Emperor  himself.  But  how 
could  this  be  accomplished  otherwise  than  by  his  being 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army,  and  entrusted 
with  full  powers  to  conduct  the  war.  Yet  neither  his 
pride  nor  his  interest  permitted  him  to  sue  in  person  for 
this  post,  and  as  a  suppliant  to  accept  from  the  favor  of 
the  Emperor  a  limited  power,  when  an  unlimited  author- 
ity might  be  extorted  from  his  fears.  In  order  to  make 
himself  the  master  of  the  terms  on  which  he  would 
resume  the  command  of  the  army,  his  course  was  to  wait 
until  the  post  should  be  forced  upon  him.  This  was 
the  advice  he  received  from  Arnheim,  and  this  the  end 
for  which  he  labored  with  profound  policy  and  restless 
activity. 

Convinced  that  extreme  necessity  would  alone  conquer 
the  Emperor's  irresolution,  and  render  powerless  the 
opposition  of  his  bitter  enemies,  Bavaria  and  Spain,  he 
henceforth  occupied  himself  in  promoting  the  success  of 
the  enemy,  and  in  increasing  the  embarrassments  of  his 
master.  It  was  apparently  by  his  instigation  and  advice 
that  the  Saxons,  when  on  the  route  to  Lusatia  and  Silesia, 
had  turned  their  march  towards  Bohemia,  and  overrun 
that  defenceless  kingdom,  where  their  rapid  conquests 
was  partly  the  result  of  his  measures.  By  the  fears 
which  he  affected  to  entertain  he  paralyzed  every  effort 
at  resistance ;  and  his  precipitate  retreat  caused  the  deliv- 
ery of  the  capital  to  the  enemy.  At  a  conference  with 
the  Saxon  general,  which  was  held  at  Kaunitz  under  the 


228  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*    WAR. 

pretext  of  negotiating  for  a  peace,  the  seal  was  put  to 
the  conspiracy,  and  the  conquest  of  Bohemia  was  the 
first  fruits  of  this  mutual  understanding.  While  Wallen- 
stein  was  thus  personally  endeavoring  to  heighten  the 
perplexities  of  Austria,  and  while  the  rapid  movements 
of  the  Swedes  upon  the  Rhine  effectually  promoted  his 
designs,  his  friends  and  bribed  adherents  in  Vienna 
uttered  loud  complaints  of  the  public  calamities,  and 
represented  the  dismissal  of  the  general  as  the  sole  cause 
of  all  these  misfortunes.  "  Had  Wallenstein  commanded, 
matters  would  never  have  come  to  this,"  exclaimed  a 
thousand  voices ;  while  their  opinions  found  supporters, 
even  in  the  Emperor's  privy  council. 

Their  repeated  remonstrances  were  not  needed  to  con- 
vince the  embarrassed  Emperor  of  his  general's  merits, 
and  of  his  own  error.  His  dependence  on  Bavaria  and 
the  League  had  soon  become  insupportable ;  but  hitherto 
this  dependence  permitted  him  not  to  show  his  distrust, 
or  irritate  the  Elector  by  the  recall  of  "Wallenstein.  But 
now,  when  his  necessities  grew  every  day  more  pressing, 
and  the  weakness  of  Bavaria  more  apparent,  he  could  no 
longer  hesitate  to  listen  to  the  friends  of  the  duke,  and  to 
consider  their  overtures  for  his  restoration  to  command. 
The  immense  riches  Wallenstein  possessed,  the  universal 
reputation  he  enjoyed,  the  rapidity  with  which  six  years 
before  he  had  assembled  an  army  of  forty  thousand  men, 
the  little  expense  at  which  he  had  maintained  this  for- 
midable force,  the  actions  he  had  performed  at  its  head, 
and,  lastly,  the  zeal  and  fidelity  he  had  displayed  for  h;s 
master's  honor,  still  lived  in  the  Emperor's  recollection, 
and  made  Wallenstein  seem  to  him  the  ablest  instrument 
to  restore  the  balance  between  the  belligerent  powers,  to 
save  Austria,  and  preserve  the  Catholic  religion.  How- 
ever sensibly  the  imperial  pi-ide  might  feet  the  humilia- 
tion in  being  forced  to  make  so  unequivocal  an  admission 
of  past  errors  and  present  necessity;  however  painful  it 
was  to  descend  to  humble  entreaties  from  the  height  of 
imperial  command ;  however  doubtful  the  fidelity  of  so 
deeply-injured  and  implacable  a  character;  however 
loudly  and  urgently  the  Spanish  minister  and  the  Elector 
of  Bavaria  protested  against  this  step,  the  immediate 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  229 

pressure  of  necessity  finally  overcame  every  other  con- 
sideration, and  the  friends  of  the  duke  were  empowered 
to  consult  him  on  the  subject,  and  to  hold  out  the  pros- 
pect of  his  restoration. 

Informed  of  all  that  was  transacted  in  the  Emperor's 
cabinet  to  his  advantage,  Wallenstein  possessed  sufficient 
self-command  to  conceal  his  inward  triumph  and  to 
assume  the  mask  of  indifference.  The  moment  of  ven- 
geance was  at  last  come,  and  his  proud  heart  exulted  in 
the  prospect  of  repaying  with  interest  the  injuries  of  the 
Emperor.  With  artful  eloquence  he  expatiated  upon  the 
happy  tranquillity  of  a  private  station,  which  had  blessed 
him  since  his  retirement  from  a  political  stage.  Too 
long,  he  said,  had  he  tasted  the  pleasures  of  ease  and  in- 
dependence to  sacrifice  to  the  vain  phantom  of  glory  the 
uncertain  favor  of  princes.  All  his  desire  of  power  and 
distinction  were  extinct:  tranquillity  and  repose  were 
now  the  sole  object  of  his  wishes.  The  better  to  conceal 
his  real  impatience,  he  declined  the  Emperor's  invitation 
to  the  court,  but  at  the  same  time,  to  facilitate  the  nego- 
tiations, came  to  Znaim,  in  Moravia. 

At  first  it  was  proposed  to  limit  the  authority  to  be 
entrusted  to  him,  by  the  presence  of  a  superior,  in  order 
by  this  expedient  to  silence  the  objections  of  the  Elector 
of  Bavaria.  The  imperial  deputies,  Questenberg  and 
Werdenberg,  who,  as  old  friends  of  the  duke,  had  been 
employed  in  this  delicate  mission,  were  instructed  to  pro- 
pose that  the  King  of  Hungary  should  remain  with  the 
army,  and  learn  the  art  of  war  under  Wallenstein.  But 
the  very  mention  of  his  name  threatened  to  put  a  period 
to  the  whole  negotiation.  "  Xo  !  never,"  exclaimed  Wal- 
lenstein, "  will  I  submit  to  a  colleague  in  my  office.  No 
—  not  even  if  it  were  God  himself  with  Mhom  I  should 
have  to  share  my  command."  But  even  when  this  ob- 
noxious point  -was  given  up,  Prince  Eggenberg,  the 
Emperor's  minister  and  favorite,  who  had  always  been 
the  steady  friend  and  zealous  champion  of  Wallenstein, 
and  was  therefore  expressly  sent  to  him,  exhausted  his 
eloquence  in  vain  to  overcome  the  pretended -reluctance 
of  the  duke.  "The  Emperor,"  he  admitted,  "had,  in 
Walienstein,  thrown  away  the  most  costly  jewel  in  his 


230  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

crown  :  but  unwillingly  and  compulsorily  only  had  he 
taken  this  step,  which  he  had  since  deeply  repented  of ; 
while  his  esteem  for  the  duke  had  remained  unaltered,  his 
favor  for  him  undiminished.  Of  these  sentiments  he  now 
gave  the  most  decisive  proof,  by  reposing  unlimited  con- 
fidence in  his  fidelity  and  capacity  to  repair  the  mistakes 
of  his  predecessors,  and  to  change  the  whole  aspect  of 
affairs.  It  would  be  great  and  noble  to  sacrifice  his  just 
indignation  to  the  good  of  his  country;  dignified  and 
worthy  of  him  to  refute  the  evil  calumny  of  his  enemies 
by  the  double  warmth  of  his  zeal.  This  victory  over 
himself,"  concluded  the  prince,  "  would  crown  his  other 
unparalleled  services  to  the  empire,  and  render  him  the 
greatest  man  of  his  age." 

These  humiliating  confessions,  and  flattering  assurances, 
seemed  at  last  to  disarm  the  anger  of  the  duke ;  but  not 
before  he  had  disburdened  his  heart  of  his  reproaches 
against  the  Emperor,  pompously  dwelt  upon  his  own  ser- 
vices, and  humbled  to  the  utmost  the  monarch  who 
solicited  his  assistance,  did  he  condescend  to  listen  to  the 
attractive  proposals  of  the  minister.  As  if  he  yielded 
entirely  to  the  force  of  their  arguments,  he  condescended 
with  a  haughty  reluctance  to  that  which  was  the  most 
ardent  wish  of  his  heart ;  and  deigned  to  favor  the  am- 
bassadors with  a  ray  of  hope.  But  far  from  putting  an 
end  to  the  Emperor's  embarrassments,  by  giving  at  once 
a  full  and  unconditional  consent,  he  only  acceded  to  a 
part  of  his  demands,  that  he  might  exalt  the  value  of  that 
which  still  remained,  and  was  of  most  importance.  He 
accepted  the  command,  but  only  for  three  months  ;  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  raising,  but  not  of  leading  an  army. 
He  wished  only  to  show  his  power  and  ability  in  its 
organization,  and  to  display  before  the  eyes  of  the  Em- 
peror the  greatness  of  that  assistance  which  he  still 
retained  in  his  hands.  Convinced  that  an  army  raised  by 
his  name  alone  would,  if  deprived  of  its  creator,  soon 
sink  again  into  nothing,  he  intended  it  to  serve  only  as  a 
decoy  to  draw  more  important  concessions  from  his  mas- 
ter. And  yet  Ferdinand  congratulated  himself,  oven  in 
having  gained  so  much  as  he  had. 

Wallenstein  did  not  long  delay  to  fulfil  those  promises 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  231 

which  all  Germany  regarded  as  chimerical,  and  which 
Gustavus  Adolphus  had  considered  as  extravagant.  But 
the  foundation  for  the  present  enterprise  had  been  long 
laid,  and  he  now  only  put  in  motion  the  machinery  which 
many  years  had  been  prepared  for  the  purpose.  Scarcely 
had  the  news  spread  of  Wallenstein's  levies,  when,  from 
every  quarter  of  the  Austrian  monarchy,  crowds  of 
soldiers  repaired  to  try  their  fortunes  under  this  expe- 
rienced general.  Many,  who  had  before  fought  under 
his  standards,  had  been  admiring  eye-witnesses  of  his 
great  actions,  and  experienced  his  magnanimity,  came 
forward  from  their  retirement  to  share  with  him  a 
second  time  both  booty  and  glory.  The  greatness  of  the 
pay  he  promised  attracted  thousands,  and  the  plentiful 
supplies  the  soldier  was  likely  to  enjoy  at  the  cost  of 
the  peasant  was  to  the  latter  an  irresistible  inducement  to 
embrace  the  military  life  at  once,  rather  than  be  the 
victim  of  its  oppression.  All  the  Austrian  provinces 
were  compelled  to  assist  in  the  equipment.  Xo  class 
was  exempt  from  taxation  —  no  dignity  or  privilege  from 
capitation.  The  Spanish  court,  as  well  as  the  King  of 
Hungary,  agreed  to  contribute  a  considerable  sum.  The 
ministers  made  large  presents,  while  Wallenstein  himself 
advanced  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  from  his  own 
income  to  hasten  the  armament.  The  poorer  officers  he 
supported  out  of  his  own  revenues;  and,  by  his  own 
example,  by  brilliant  promotions,  and  still  more  brilliant 
promises,  he  induced  all  who  were  able  to  raise  troops 
at  their  own  expense.  Whoever  raised  a  corps  at  his 
own  cost  was  to  be  its  commander.  In  the  appointment 
of  officers,  religion  made  no  difference.  Riches,  bravery, 
and  experience  were  more  regarded  than  creed.  By 
this  uniform  treatment  of  different  religious  sects,  and 
still  more  by  his  express  declaration,  that  his  present  levy 
had  nothing  to  do  with  religion,  the  Protestant  subjects 
of  the  empire  were  tranquillized,  and  reconciled  to  bear 
their  share  of  the  public  burdens.  The  duke,  at  the 
same  time,  did  not  omit  to  treat,  in  his  own  name,  with 
foreign  states  for  men  and  money.  He  prevailed  on  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine,  a  second  time,  to  espouse  the  cause  of 
the  Emperor.  Poland  was  urged  to  supply  him  with 


232  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR. 

Cossacks,  and  Italy  with  warlike  necessaries.  Before  the 
three  months  were  expired  the  army,  which  was  assembled 
in  Moravia,  amounted  to  no  less  than  forty  thousand  men, 
chiefly  drawn  from  the  unconquered  parts  of  Bohemia, 
from  Moravia,  Silesia,  and  the  German  provinces  of  the 
House  of  Austria.  What  to  every  one  had  appeared 
impracticable,  Wallenstein,  to  the  astonishment  of  all 
Europe,  had  in  a  short  time  effected.  The  charm  of  his 
name,  his  treasures,  and  his  genius  had  assembled 
thousands  in  arms,  where  before  Austria  had  only  looked 
for  hundreds.  Furnished,  even  to  superfluity,  with  all 
necessaries,  commanded  by  experienced  officers,  and 
inflamed  by  enthusiasm  which  assured  itself  of  victory, 
this  newly-created  army  only  awaited  the  signal  of  their 
leader  to  show  themselves,  by  the  bravery  of  their  deeds, 
worthy  of  his  choice. 

The  duke  had  fulfilled  his  promise,  and  the  troops 
were  ready  to  take  the  field  ;  he  then  retired,  and  left  to 
the  Emperor  to  choose  a  commander.  But  it  would 
have  been  as  easy  to  raise  a  second  army  like  the  first  as 
to  find  any  other  commander  for  it  than  Wallenstein. 
This  promising  army,  the  last  hope  of  the  Emperor,  was 
nothing  but  an  illusion  as  soon  as  the  charm  was  dissolved 
which  had  called  it  into  existence  ;  by  Wallenstein  it  had 
been  raised,  and  without  him  it  sank  like  a  creation  of 
magic  into  its  original  nothingness.  Its  officers  were 
either  bound  to  him  as  his  debtors,  or,  as  his  creditors, 
closely  connected  with  his  interests,  and  the  preservation 
of  his  power.  The  regiments  he  had  entrusted  t^o  his 
own  relations,  creatures,  and  favorites.  He,  and  he 
alone,  could  discharge  to  the  troops  the  extravagant 
promises  by  which  they  had  bsen  lured  into  his  service. 
His  pledged  word  was  the  only  security  on  which  their 
bold  expectations  rested  ;  a  blind  reliance  on  his  omnipo- 
tence, the  only  tie  which  linked  together  in  one  common 
life  and  soul  the  various  impulses  of  their  zeal.  There 
was  an  end  of  the  good  fortune  of  each  individual  if  he 
retired,  who  alone  was  the  voucher  of  its  fulfilment. 

However  little  Wallenstein  was  serious  in  his  refusal, 
he  successfully  employed  this  means  to  terrify  the  Em- 
peror into  consenting  to  his  extravagant  conditions.  The 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  233 

progress  of  the  enemy  every  day  increased  the  pressure 
of  the  Emperor's  difficulties,  while  the  remedy  was  also 
close  at  hand;  a  word  from  him  might  terminate  the 
general  embarrassment.  Prince  Eggenberg  at  length 
received  orders,  for  the  third  and  last  time,  at  any  cost 
and  sacrifice,  to  induce  his  friend,  Wallenstein,  to  accept 
the  command. 

He  found  him  at  Znaim,  in  Moravia,  pompously  sur- 
rounded by  the  troops,  the  possession  of  which  he  made 
the  Emperor  so  earnestly  to  long  for.  As  a  suppliant  did 
the  haughty  subject  receive  the  deputy  of  his  sovereign. 
"He  never  could  trust,"  he  said,  "to  a  restoration  to 
command,  which  he  owed  to  the  Emperor's  necessities, 
and  not  to  'his  sense  of  justice.  He  \vas  now  courted 
because  the  danger  had  reached  its  height,  and  safety  was 
hoped  for  from  his  arm  only  ;  but  his  successful  services 
would  soon  cause  the  servant  to  be  forgotten,  and  the 
return  of  security  would  bring  back  renewed  ingratitude. 
If  he  deceived  the  expectations  formed  of  him,  his  long- 
earned  reno\vn  would  be  forfeited ;  even  if  he  fulfilled 
them,  his  repose  and  happiness  must  be  sacrificed.  Soon 
would  envy  be  excited  anew,  and  the  dependent  monarch 
would  not  hesitate  a  second  time  to  make  an  offering  of 
convenience  to  a  servant  whom  he  could  now  dispense 
with.  Better  for  him  at  once,  and  voluntarily,  to  resign 
a  post  from  which  sooner  or  later  the  intrigues  of  his 
enemies  would  expel  him.  Security  and  content  were  to 
be  found  in  the  bosom  of  private  life;  and  nothing  but 
the  wish  to  oblige  the  Emperor  had  induced  him,  reluc- 
tantly enough,  to  relinquish  for  a  time  his  blissful  re- 
pose." 

Tired  of  this  long  farce,  the  minister  at  last  assumed  a 
serious  tone,  and  threatened  the  obstinate  duke  with  the 
Emperor's  resentment  if  he  persisted  in  his  refusal. 
"Low  enough  had  the  imperial  dignity,"  he  added, 
"  stooped  already ;  and  yet,  instead  of  exciting  his  mag- 
nanimity by  its  condescension,  had  only  flattered  his  pride 
and  increased  his  obstinacy.  If  this  sacrifice  had  been 
made  in  vain,  he  would  not  answer  but  that  the  suppli- 
ant might  be  converted  into  the  sovereign,  and  that  the 
monarch  might  not  avenge  his  injured  dignity  on  his 


234  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

rebellious  subject.  However  greatly  Ferdinand  may 
have  erred,  the  Emperor  at  leaet  had  a  claim  to  obedi- 
ence ;  the  man  might  be  mistaken,  but  the  monarch 
could  not  confess  his  error.  If  the  Duke  of  Friedland 
had  suffered  by  an  unjust  decree,  he  might  yet  be  recom- 
pensed for  all  his  losses ;  the  wound  which  it  had  itself 
inflicted  the  hand  of  Majesty  might  heal.  If  he  asked 
security  for  his  person  and  his  dignities,  the  Emperor's 
equity  would  refuse  him  no  reasonable  demand.  Majesty 
contemned,  admitted  not  of  any  atonement ;  disobedience 
to  its  commands  cancelled  the  most  brilliant  services. 
The  Emperor  required  his  services,  and  as  Emperor  he 
demanded  them.  Whatever  price  Wallenstein  might  set 
upon  them,  the  Emperor  would  readily  agree  to ;  but  he 
demanded  obedience,  or  the  weight  of  his  indignation 
should  crush  the  refractory  servant." 

Wallenstein,  whose  extensive  possessions  within  the 
Austrian  monarchy  were  momentarily  exposed  to  the 
power  of  the  Emperor,  was  keenly  sensible  that  this  was 
no  idle  threat;  yet  it  was  not  fear  that  at  last  overcame 
his  affected  reluctance.  This  imperious  tone  of  itself 
was  to  his  mind  a  plain  proof  of  the  weakness  and  despair 
which  dictated  it,  while  the  Emperor's  readiness  to  yield 
all  his  demands  convinced  him  that  he  had  attained  the 
summit  of  his  wishes.  He  now  made  a  show  of  yielding 
to  the  persuasions  of  Eggenberg ;  and  left  him  in  order  to 
write  down  the  conditions  on  which  he  accepted  the  com- 
mand. 

Not  without  apprehension  did  the  minister  receive  the 
writing  in  which  the  proudest  of  subjects  had  prescribed 
laws  to  the  proudest  of  sovereigns.  But  however  little 
confidence  he  had  in  the  moderation  of  his  friend,  the 
extravagant  contents  of  his  writing  surpassed  even  his 
worst  expectations.  Wallenstein  required  the  uncon- 
trolled command  over  all  the  German  armies  of  Austria 
and  Spain,  with  unlimited  powers  to  reward  and  punish. 
Neither  the  King  of  Hungary,  nor  the  Emperor  himself, 
were  to  appear  in  the  army,  still  less  to  exercise  any  act 
of  authority  over  it.  No  commission  in  the  army,  no  pen- 
sion or  letter  of  grace,  was  to  be  granted  by  the  Emperor 
without  Wallenstein's  approval.  All  the  conquests  and 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  235 

confiscations  that  should  take  place  were  to  be  placed 
entirely  at  Wallenstein's  disposal,  to  the  exclusion  of 
every  other  tribunal.  For  his  ordinary  pay,  an  imperial 
hereditary  estate  was  to  be  assigned  him,  with  another  of 
the  conquered  estates  within  the  empire  for  his  extraordi- 
nary expenses.  Every  Austrian  province  was  to  be 
opened  to  him  if  he  required  it  in  case  of  retreat.  He 
farther  demanded  the  assurance  of  the  possession  of  the 
Duchy  of  Mecklenburg,  in  the  event  of  a  future  peace ; 
and  a  formal  and  timely  intimation,  if  it  should  be 
deemed  necessary  a  second  time  to  deprive  him  of  the 
command. 

In  vain  the  minister  entreated  him  to  moderate  his 
demands,  which,  if  granted,  would  deprive  the  Emperor 
of  all  authority  over  his  own  troops,  and  make  him 
absolutely  dependent  on  his  general.  The  value  placed  on 
his  services  had  been  too  plainly  manifested  to  prevent 
him  dictating  the  price  at  which  they  were  to  be  pur- 
chased. If  the  pressure  of  circumstances  compelled  the 
Emperor  to  grant  these  demands,  it  was  more  than  a 
mere  feeling  of  haughtiness  and  desire  of  revenge  which 
induced  the  duke  to  make  them.  His  plans  of  re- 
bellion were  formed  to  their  success,  every  one  of  the 
conditions  for  which  Wallenstein  stipulated  in  this  treaty 
with  the  court  was  indispensable.  Those  plans  required 
that  the  Emperor  should  be  deprived  of  all  authority  in 
Germany,  and  be  placed  at  the  mercy  of  his  general ;  and 
this  object  would  be  attained  the  moment  Ferdinand 
subscribed  the  required  conditions.  The  use  which  Wai- 
lenstein  intended  to  make  of  his  army  (widely  different 
indeed  from  that  for  which  it  was  entrusted  to  him), 
brooked  not  of  a  divided  power,  and  still  less  of  an 
authority  superior  to  his  own.  To  be  the  sole  master  of 
the  will  of  his  troops,  he  must  also  be  the  sole  master 
their  destinies ;  insensibly  to  supplant  his  sovereign,  and 
to  transfer  permanently  to  his  own  person  the  rights  ot 
sovereignty,  which  were  only  lent  to  him  for  a  time  by  a 
higher  authority,  he  must  cautiously  keep  the  latter  out 
of  the  view  of  the  army.  Hence  his  obstinate  refusal  1 
allow  any  prince  of  the  house  of  Austria  to  be  present 
with  the  army.  The  liberty  of  free  disposal  of  all 


236  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*    WAR. 

conquered  and  confiscated  estates  in  the  empire  would 
also  afford  him  fearful  means  of  purchasing  dependents 
and  instruments  of  his  plans,  and  of  acting  the  dictator  in 
Germany  more  absolutely  than  ever  any  emperor  did  in 
time  of  peace.  By  the  right  to  use  any  of  the  Austrian 
provinces  as  a  place  of  refuge,  in  case  of  need,  he  had  full 
power  to  hold  the  Emperor  a  prisoner  by  means  of  his 
own  forces,  and  within  his  own  dominions;  to  exhaust  the 
strength  and  resources  of  these  countries,  and  to  under- 
mine the  power  of  Austria  in  its  very  foundation. 

Whatever  might  be  the  issue  he  had  equally  secured 
his  own  advantage  by  the  conditions  he  had  extorted 
from  the  Emperor.  If  circumstances  proved  favorable  to 
his  daring  project,  this  treaty  with  the  Emperor  facili- 
tated its  execution ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  the  course  of 
things  ran  counter  to  it,  it  would  at  least  afford  him  a 
brilliant  compensation  for  the  failure  of  his  plans.  But 
how  could  he  consider  an  agreement  valid  which  was 
extorted  from  his  sovereign  and  based  upon  treason  ? 
How  could  he  hope  to  blind  the  Emperor  by  a  written 
agreement,  in  the  face  of  a  law  which  condemned  to 
death  every  one  who  should  have  the  presumption  to 
impose  conditions  upon  him?  But  this  criminal  was  the 
most  indispensable  man  in  the  empire,  and  Ferdinand, 
well  practised  in  dissimulation,  granted  him  for  the 
present  all  he  required. 

At  last  then  the  imperial  army  had  found  a  com- 
mander-in-chief  worthy  of  the  name.  Every  other  au- 
thority in  the  army,  even  that  of  the  Emperor  himself, 
ceased  from  the  moment  Wallenstein  assumed  the  com- 
mander's baton,  and  every  act  was  invalid  which  did  not 
proceed  from  him.  From  the  banks  of  the  Danube  to 
those  of  the  Weser  and  the  Oder,  was  felt  the  life-giving 
dawning  of  this  new  star;  a  new  spirit  seemed  to  inspire 
the  troops  of  the  Emperor,  a  new  epoch  of  the  war  began. 
The  Papists  form  fresh  hopes,  the  Protestant  beholds 
with  anxiety  the  changed  course  of  affairs. 

The  greater  the  price  at  which  the  services  of  the  new 
general  had  been  purchased,  the -greater  justly  were  the 
expectations  from  those  which  the  court  of  the  Emperor 
entertained.  But  the  duke  was  in  no  hurry  to  fulfil 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  237 

these  expectations.  Already  in  the  vicinity  of  Bohemia, 
and  at  the  head  of  a  formidable  force,  he  had  but  to 
show  himself  there  in  order  to  overpower  the  exhausted 
force  of  the  Saxons,  and  brilliantly  to  commence  his  new- 
career  by  the  reconquest  of  that  kingdom.  But,  con- 
tented with  harassing  the  enemy  with  indecisive  skir- 
mishes of  his  Croats,  he  abandoned  the  best  part  of  that 
kingdom  to  be  plundered,  and  moved  calmly  forward  in 
pursuit  of  his  own  selfish  plans.  His  design  was,  not  to 
conquer  the  Saxons,  but  to  unite  with  them.  Exclusively 
occupied  with  this  important  object,  he  remained  inactive 
in  the  hope  of  conquering  more  surely  by  means  of  nego- 
tiation. He  left  no  expedient  untried  to  detach  this 
prince  from  the  Swedish  alliance ;  and  Ferdinand  himself, 
ever  inclined  to  an  accommodation  with  this  prince, 
approved  of  this  proceeding.  But  the  great  debt  which 
Saxony  owed  to  Sweden  was  as  yet  too  freshly  remem- 
bered to  allow  of  such  an  act  of  perfidy ;  and  even  had 
the  Elector  been  disposed  to  yield  to  the  temptation,  the 
equivocal  character  of  Wallenstein,  and  the  bad  character 
of  Austrian  policy,  precluded  any  reliance  in  the  integrity 
of  its  promises.  Notorious  already  as  a  treacherous 
statesman,  he  met  not  with  faith  upon  the  very  occasion 
when  perhaps  he  intended  to  act  honestly;  and,  more- 
over, was  denied,  by  circumstances,  the  opportunity  of 
proving  the  sincerity  of  his  intentions  by  the  disclosure 
of  his  real  motives. 

He  therefore  unwillingly  resolved  to  extort  by  force 
of  arms  what,  he  could  not  obtain  by  negotiation.  .  Sud- 
denly assembling  his  troops,  he  appeared  before  Prague 
ere  the  Saxons  had  time  to  advance  to  its  relief.  After 
a  short  resistance  the  treachery  of  some  Capuchins  opens 
the  gates  to  one  of  his  regiments  ;  and  the  garrison,  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  citadel,  soon  laid  down  their 
arms  upon  disgraceful  conditions.  Master  of  the  capital, 
he  hoped  to  carry  on  more  successfully  his  negotiations 
at  the  Saxon  court;  but  even  while  he  was  renewing  his 
proposals  to  Arnheim,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  give  them 
weight  by  striking  a  decisive  blow.  He  hastened  to 
seize  the  narrow  passes  between  Aussig  and  Pirna,  with 
a  view  of  cutting  off  the  retreat  of  the  Saxons  into  their 


238  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

own  country ;  but  the  rapidity  of  Arnheim's  operations 
fortunately  extricated  them  from  the  danger.  After  the 
retreat  of  this  general,  Egra  and  Leutmeritz,  the  last 
strongholds  of  the  Saxons,  surrendered  to  the  con- 
queror, and  the  whole  kingdom  was  restored  to  its  legiti- 
mate sovereign  in  less  time  than  it  had  been  lost. 

Wallenstein,  less  occupied  with  the  interests  of  his 
master  than  with  the  furtherance  of  his  own  plans,  now 
purposed  to  carry  the  war  into  b'axony,  and  by  ravaging 
his  territories  compel  the  Elector  to  enter  into  a  private 
treaty  with  the  Emperor,  or  rather  with  himself.  But, 
however  little  accustomed  lie  was  to  make  his  will  bend 
to  circumstances,  he  now  perceived  the  necessity  of  post- 
poning his  favorite  scheme  for  a  time  to  a  more  pressing 
emergency.  While  he  was  driving  the  Saxons  from 
Bohemia,  Gustavus  Adolphus  had  been  gaining  the  victo- 
ries, already  detailed,  on  the  Rhine  and  Danube,  and 
carried  the  war  through  Franconia  and  Swabia  to  the 
frontiers  of  Bavaria.  Maximilian,  defeated  on  the  Lech, 
and  deprived  by  death  of  Count  Tilly,  his  best  support, 
urgently  solicited  the  Emperor  to  send  with  all  speed  the 
Duke  of  Friedland  to  his  assistance,  from  Bohemia,  and 
by  the  defence  of  Bavaria  to  avert  the  danger  from 
Austria  itself.  He  also  made  the  same  request  of  Wal- 
lenstein, and  entreated  him,  till  he  could  himself  come 
with  the  main  force,  to  despatch  in  the  meantime  a  few 
regiments  to  his  aid.  Ferdinand  seconded  the  request 
with  all  his  influence,  and  one  messenger  after  another 
was  sent  to  Wallenstein  urging  him  to  move  towards  the 
Danube. 

It  now  appeared  how  completely  the  Emperor  had  sacri- 
ficed his  authority  in  surrendering  to  another  the  supreme 
command  of  his  troops.  Indifferent  to  Maximilian's  en- 
treaties, and  deaf  to  the  Emperor's  repeated  commands, 
Wallenstein  remained  inactive  in  Bohemia  and  aban- 
doned the  Elector  to  his  fate.  The  remembrance  of  the 
evil  service  which  Maximilian  had  rendered  him  with  the 
Emperor  at  the  Diet  at  Ratisbon  was  deeply  engraved 
on  the  implacable  mind  of  the  duke,  and  the  Elector's 
late  attempts  to  prevent  his  reinstatement  were  no  secret 
to  him.  The  moment  of  avenging  this  affront  had  now 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  239 

arrived,  and  Maximilian  was  doomed  to  pay  dearly  for 
his  folly  in  provoking  the  most  revengeful  of  men.  Wal- 
lenstein  maintained  that  Bohemia  ought  not  to  be  left 
exposed,  and  that  Austria  could  not  be  better  protected 
than  by  allowing  the  Swedish  army  to  waste  its  strength 
before  the  Bavarian  fortress.  Thus,  by  the  arm  of  the 
Swedes,  he  chastised  his  enemy ;  and,  while  one  place 
after  another  fell  into  their  hands,  he  allowed  the  Elector 
vainly  to  await  his  arrival  in  Ratisbon.  It  was  only 
when  the  complete  subjugation  of  Bohemia  left  him 
without  excuse,  and  the  conquests  of  Gustavus  Adolphus 
in  Bavaria  threatened  Austria  itself,  that  he  yielded  to 
the  pressing  entreaties  of  the  Elector  and  the  Emperor, 
and  determined  to  effect  the  long-expected  union  with 
the  former;  an  event,  which,  according  to  the  general 
anticipation  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  would  decide  the 
fate  of  the  campaign. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  too  weak  in  numbers  to  cope  even 
with  Wallenstein's  force  alone,  naturally  dreaded  the 
junction  of  such  powerful  armies;  and  the  little  energy 
he  used  to  prevent  it  was  the  occasion  of  great  surprise. 
Apparently  he  reckoned  too  much  on  the  hatred  which 
alienated  the  leaders,  and  seemed  to  render  their  effectual 
co-operation  improbable.  When  the  event  contradicted 
his  views  it  was  too  late  to  repair  his  error.  On  the  first 
certain  intelligence  he  received  of  their  designs  he 
hastened  to  the  Upper  Palatinate  for  the  purpose  of  inter- 
cepting the  Elector,  but  the  latter  had  already  arrived 
there,  and  the  junction  had  been  effected  at  Egra. 

This  frontier  town  had  been  chosen  by  Wallenstein 
for  the  scene  of  his  triumph  over  his  proud  rival.  Not 
content  with  having  seen  him,  as  it  were,  a  suppliant  at 
his  feet,  he  imposed  upon  him  the  hard  condition  of  leav- 
ing his  territories  in  his  rear  exposed  to  the  enemy,  and 
declaring  by  this  long  march  to  meet  him,  the  necessity 
and  distress  to  which  he  was  reduced.  Even  to  this 
humiliation  the  haughty  prince  patiently  submitted.  It 
had  cost  him  a  severe  struggle  to  ask  for  protection  df 
the  man  who,  if  his  own  wishes  had  been  consulted, 
would  never  have  had  the  power  of  granting  it;  but 
having  once  made  up  his  mind  to  it,  he  wae  ready  to  bear 


240  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

all  the  annoyances  which  were  inseparable  from  that 
resolve,  and  sufficiently  master  of  himself  to  put  up  with 
petty  grievances  when  an  important  end  was  in  view. 

But  whatever  pains  it  had  cost  to  effect  this  junction, 
it  was  equally  difficult  to  settle  the  conditions  on  which 
it  was  to  be  maintained.  The  united  army  must  be 
placed  under  the  command  of  one  individual,  if  any 
object  was  to  be  gained  by  the  union,  and  each  general 
was  equally  averse  to  yield  to  the  superior  authority  of 
the  other.  If  Maximilian  rested  his  claim  on  his  electoral 
dignity,  the  nobleness  of  his  descent,  and  his  influence  in 
the  empire,  Wallenstein's  military  renown  and  the  un- 
limited command  conferred  on  him  by  the  Emperor, 
gave  an  equally  strong  title  to  it.  If  it  was  deeply 
humiliating  to  the  pride  of  the  former  to  serve  under  an 
imperial  subject,  the  idea  of  imposing  laws  on  so  imperi- 
ous a  spirit  flattered  in  the  same  degree  the  haughtiness 
of  Wallenstein.  An  obstinate  dispute  ensued,  which, 
however,  terminated  in  a  mutual  compromise  to  Wallen- 
stein's advantage.  To  him  was  assigned  the*  unlimited 
command  of  both  armies,  particularly  in  battle,  while  the 
Elector  was  deprived  of  all  power  of  altering  the  order 
of  battle,  or  even  the  route  of  the  army.  He  retained 
only  the  bare  right  of  punishing  and  rewarding  his  own 
troops,  and  the  free  use  of  these  when  not  acting  in  con- 
junction with  the  Imperialists. 

After  these  preliminaries  were  settled  the  two  generals 
at  last  ventured  upon  an  interview ;  but  not  until  they 
had  mutually  promised  to  bury  the  past  in  oblivion,  and 
all  the  outward  formalities  of  a  reconciliation  had  been 
settled.  According  to  agreement,  they  publicly  embraced 
in  the  sight  of  their  troops,  and  made  mutual  professions 
of  friendship,  Avhile  in  reality  the  hearts  of  both  were 
overflowing  with  malice.  Maximilian,  well  versed  in 
dissimulation,  had  sufficient  command  over  himself  not 
to  betray  in  a  single  feature  his  real  feelings ;  but  a 
malicious  triumph  sparkled  in  the  eyes'  of  Wallenstein, 
and  the  constraint  which  was  visible  in  all  his  movements 
betrayed  the  violence  of  the  emotion  which  overpowered 
his  proud  soul. 

The  combined  Imperial  and  Bavarian  armies  amounted 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  241 

to  nearly  sixty  thousand  men,  chiefly  veterans.  Before  this 
force  the  King  of  Sweden  was  not  in  a  condition  to  keep 
the  field.  As  his  attempt  to  prevent  their  junction  had 
failed,  he  commenced  a  rapid  retreat  into  Franconia,  and 
awaited  there  for  some  decisive  movement  on  the  part  of 
the  enemy  in  order  to  form  his  own  plans.  The  position 
of  the  combined  armies  between  the  frontiers  of  Saxony 
and  Bavaria  left  it  for  some  time  doubtful  whether  they 
would  remove  the  war  into  the  former  or  endeavor  to 
drive  the  Swedes  from  the  Danube  and  deliver  Bavaria. 
Saxony  had  been  stripped  of  troops  by  Arnheim,  who 
was  pursuing  his  conquests  in  Silesia,  not  without  a  secret 
design,  it  was  generally  supposed,  of  favoring  the  en- 
trance of  the  Duke  of  Friedland  into  that  electorate, 
and  of  thus  driving  the  irresolute  John  George  into  peace 
with  the  Emperor.  Gustavus  Adolphus  himself,  fully 
persuaded  that  Wallenstein's  views  were  directed  against 
Saxony,  hastily  despatched  a  strong  reinforcement  to  the 
assistance  of  his  confederate,  with  the  intention,  as  soon 
as  circumstances  would  allow,  of  following  with  the 
main  body.  But  the  movements  of  "Wallenstein's  army 
soon  led  him  to  suspect  that  he  himself  was  the  object  of 
attack ;  and  the  duke's  march  through  the  Upper  Pala- 
tinate placed  the  matter  beyond  a  doubt.  The  question 
now  was,  how  to  provide  for  his  own  security,  and  the 
prize  was  no  longer  his  supremacy,  but  his  very  exist- 
ence. His  fertile  genius  must  now  supply  the  means,  not 
of  conquest,  but  of  preservation.  The  approach  of  the 
enemy  had  surprised  him  before  he  had  time  to  concen- 
trate his  troops,  which  were  scattered  all  over  Germany, 
or  to  summon  his  allies  to  his  aid.  Too  weak  to  meet  the 
enemy  in  the  field,  he  had  no  choice  left  but  either  to 
throw  himself  into  Nuremberg,  and  run  the  risk  of  being 
shut  up  in  its  walls,  or  to  sacrifice  that  city  and  await 
a  reinforcement  under  the  cannon  of  Donauwerth.  In- 
different to  danger  or  difficulty,  while  he  obeyed  the  call 
of  humanity  or  honor,  he  chose  the  first  without  hesita- 
tion, firmly  resolved  to  bury  himself  with  his  whole  army 
under  the  ruins  of  Nuremberg  rather  than  to  purchase 
his  own  safety  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  confederates. 

Measures  were  immediately  taken  to  surround  the  city 


242  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

and  suburbs  witli.  redoubts,  and  to  form  an  intrenched 
camp.  Several  thousand  workmen  immediately  com- 
menced this  extensive  work,  and  an  heroic  determination 
to  hazard  life  and  property  in  the  common  cause  ani- 
mated the  inhabitants  of  Nuremberg.  A  trench  eight 
feet  deep  and  twelve  broad  surrounded  the  whole  forti- 
fication ;  the  lines  were  defended  by  redoubts  and  bat- 
teries, the  gates  by  half-moons.  The  river  Pegnitz, 
which  flows  through  Nuremberg,  divided  the  whole  camp 
into  two  semicircles,  whose  communication  was  secured 
by  several  bridges.  About  three  hundred  pieces  of  can- 
non defended  the  town-walls  and  the  iritrenchments. 
The  peasantry  from  the  neighboring  villages,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Nuremberg,  assisted  the  Swedish  soldiers 
so  zealously  that  on  the  seventh  day  the  army  was 
able  to  enter  the  camp,  and  in  a  fortnight  this  great  work 
was  completed. 

While  these  operations  were  carried  on  without  the 
walls,  the  magistrates  of  Nuremberg  were  busily  occupied 
in  filling  the  magazines  with  provisions  and  ammunition 
for  a  long  siege.  Measures  were  taken,  at  the  same  time, 
to  secure  the  health  of  the  inhabitants,  Avhich  was  likely 
to  be  endangered  by  the  conflux  of  so  many  people; 
cleanliness  was  enforced  by  the  strictest  regulations.  In 
order,  if  necessary,  to  support  the  king,  the  youth  of  the 
city  were  embodied  and  trained  to  arms,  the  militia  of 
the  town  considerably  reinforced,  and  a  new  regiment 
raised,  consisting  of  four-and-twenty  names,  according  to 
the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  Gustavus  had,  in  the  mean- 
time, called  to  his  assistance  his  allies,  Duke  William  of 
Weimar  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel ;  and  or- 
dered his  generals  on  the  Rhine,  in  Thunngia  and  Lower 
Saxony,  to  commence  their  march  immediately,  and  join 
him  with  their  troops  in  Nuremberg.  His  army,  which 
was  encamped  within  the  lines,  did  not  amount  to  more 
than  sixteen  thousand  men,  scarcely  a  third  of  the 
enemy. 

The  Imperialists  had,  in  the  meantime,  by  slow  marches, 
advanced  to  Neumark,  where  Wallenstein  made  a  general 
review.  At  the  sight  of  this  formidable  force  he  could 
not  refrain  from  indulrrins:  in  a  childish  boast :  "  In  four 


THE    THIRTV    YEARfe'    WAR.  243 

days,"  said  lie,  "  it  will  be  shown  whether  I  or  the  King 
of  Sweden  is  to  be  master  of  the  world."  Yet,  notwith* 
standing  his  superiority,  he  did  nothing  to  fulfil  his 
promise;  and  even  let  slip  the  opportunity  of  crushing 
his  enemy,  when  the  latter  had  the  hardihood  to  leave  his 
lines  to  meet  him.  "  Battles  enough  have  been  fought," 
was  his  answer  to  those  who  advised  him  to  attack  the 
king,  "it  is  now  time  to  try  another  method."  Wallen- 
stein's  well-founded  reputation  required  not  any  of  those 
rash  enterprises  on  which  younger  soldiers  rush  in  hope 
of  gaining  a  name.  Satisfied  that  the  enemy's  despair 
would  dearly  sell  a  victory,  while  a  defeat  would  irre- 
trievably ruin  the  Emperor's  affairs,  he  resolved  to  wear 
out  the  ardor  of  his  opponent  by  a  tedious  blockade,  and 
by  thus  depriving  him  of  every  opportunity  of  availing 
himself  of  his  impetuous  bravery,  take  from  him  the  very 
advantage  which  had  hitherto  rendered  him  invincible. 
Without  making  any  attack,  therefore,  he  erected  a 
strong  fortified  camp  on  the  other  side  of  the  Pegnitz,  and 
opposite  Nuremberg;  and,  by  this  well-chosen  position, 
cut  off  from  the  city  and  the  camp  of  Gustavus  all  sup- 
plies from  Franconia,  Swabia,  and  Thuringia.  Thus  he 
held  in  siege  at  once  the  city  and  the  king,  and  flattered 
himself  with  the  hope  of  slowly,  but  surely,  wearing  out 
by  famine  and  pestilence  the  courage  of  his  opponent 
whom  he  had  no  wish  to  encounter  in  the  field. 

Little  aware,  however,  of  the  resources  and  strength  of 
his  adversary,  Wallenstein  had  not  taken  sufficient  precau- 
tions to  avert  from  himself  the  fate  he  was  designing  for 
others.  From  the  whole  of  the  neighboring  country, 
the  peasantry  had  fled  with  their  property ;  and  what 
little  provision  remained  must  be  obstinately  contested 
with  the  Swedes.  The  king  spared  the  magazines  within 
the  town,  as  long  as  it  was  possible  to  provision  his  army 
from  without;  and  these  forays  produced  constant  skir- 
mishes between  the  Croats  and  the  Swedish  cavalry,  of 
which  the  surrounding  country  exhibited  the  most  melan- 
choly traces.  The  necessaries  of  life  must  be  obtained 
sword  in  hand  ;  and  the  foraging  parties  could  not  ven- 
ture out  without  a  numerous  escort.  And  when  this 
supply  failed,  $he  town  opened  its  magazines  to  the 


244  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

king,  but  Wallenstein:  had  to  support  his  troops  from 
a  distance.  A  large  convoy  from  Bavaria  was  on  its  way 
to  him  with  an  escort  of  a  thousand  men.  Gustavus 
Adolphus  having  received  intelligence  of  its  approach, 
immediately  sent  out  a  regiment  of  cavalry  to  intercept 
it ;  and  the  darkness  of  the  night  favored  the  enterprise. 
The  whole  convoy,  with  the  town  in  which  it  was,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes;  the  imperial  escort  was 
cut  to  pieces ;  about  twelve  hundred  cattle  carried  off ; 
and  a  thousand  wagons  loaded  with  bread,  which  could 
not  be  brought  away,  were  set  on  fire.  Seven  regiments, 
which  Wallenstein  had  sent  forward  to  Altdorp  to  cover 
the  entrance  of  the  long  and  anxiously  expected  convoy, 
were  attacked  by  the  king,  who  had,  in  like  manner, 
advanced  to  cover  the  retreat  of  his  cavalry,  and  routed 
after  an  obstinate  action,  being  driven  back  into  the 
imperial  camp  with  the  loss  of  four  hundred  men.  So 
many  checks  and  difficulties,  and  so  firm  and  unexpected 
a  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  king,  made  the  Duke  of 
Friedland  repent  that  he  had  declined  to  hazard  a  battle. 
The  strength  of  the  Swedish  camp  rendered  an  attack 
impracticable  ;  and  the  armed  youth  of  Kuremberg  served 
the  king  as  a  nursery  from  which  he  could  supply  his 
loss  of  troops.  The  want  of  provisions,  which  began  to  be 
felt  in  the  imperial  camp  as  strongly  as  in  the  Swedish, 
rendered  it  uncertain  which  party  would  be  first  com- 
pelled to  give  way. 

Fifteen  days  had  the  two  armies  now  remained  in  view 
of  each  other,  equally  defended  by  inaccessible  intrench- 
ments,  without  attempting  anything  more  than  slight 
attacks  and  unimportant  skirmishes.  On  both  sides  in- 
fectious diseases,  the  natural  consequence  of  bad  food 
and  a  crowded  population,  had  occasioned  a  greater  loss 
than  the  sword.  And  this  evil  daily  increased.  But  at 
length  the  long-expected  succors  arrived  in  the  Swedish 
camp ;  and  by  this  strong  reinforcement  the  king  was  now 
enabled  to  obey  the  dictates  of  his  native  courage,  and  to 
break  the  chains  which  had  hitherto  fettered  him. 

In  obedience  to  his  requisitions,  the  Duke  of  Weimar 
had  hastily  drawn  together  a  corps  from  the  garrisons  in 
Lower  Saxony  and  Thuringia,  which,  at  Schweinfurt,  in 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  245 

Franconia,  was  joined  by  four  Saxon  regiments,  and  at 
Kitzingen  by  the  corps  of  the  Rhine,  which  the  Land- 
grave of  Hesse  and  the  Palatine  of  Birkenfeld  despatched 
to  the  relief  of  the  king.  The  chancellor,  Oxenstiern, 
undertook  to  lead  this  force  to  its  destination.  After 
being  joined  at  Windsheira  by  the  Duke  of  Weimar 
himself,  and  the  Swedish  general,  Banner,  he  advanced 
by  rapid  marches  to  Bruck  and  Eltersdorf,  where  he 
passed  the  Rednitz,  and  reached  the  Swedish  camp  in 
safety.  This  reinforcement  amounted  to  nearly  fifty 
thousand  men,  and  was  attended  by  a  train  of  sixty 
pieces  of  cannon,  and  four  thousand  baggage  wagons. 
Gustavus  now  saw  himself  at  the  head  of  an  army  of 
nearly  seventy  thousand  strong,  without  reckoning  the 
militia  of  Nuremberg,  which  in  case  of  necessity,  could 
bring  into  the  field  about  thirty  thousand  fighting  men ; 
a  formidable  force,  opposed  to  another  not  less  formi- 
dable. The  war  seemed  at  length  compressed  to  the  point 
of  a  single  battle,  which  was  to  decide  its  fearful  issue. 
With  divided  sympathies,  Europe  looked  with  anxiety 
to  this  scene,  where  the  whole  strength  of  the  two  con- 
tending parties  was  fearfully  drawn,  as  it  were,  to  a 
focus. 

If,  before  the  arrival  of  the  Swedish  succors,  a  want 
of  provisions  had  been  felt,  the  evil  was  now  fearfully 
increased  to  a  dreadful  height  in  both  camps,  for  Wallen- 
stein  had  also  received  reinforcements  from  Bavaria. 
Besides  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men  con- 
fronted to  each  other,  and  more  than  fifty  thousand 
horses  in  the  two  armies,  and  besides  the  inhabitants  of 
Nuremberg,  whose  number  far  exceeded  the  Swedish 
army,  there  were  in  the  camp  of  Wallenstein  about 
fifteen  thousand  women,  with  as  many  drivers,  and 
nearly  the  same  number  in  that  of  the  Swedes.  The 
custom  of  the  time  permitted  the  soldier  to  carry  his 
family  with  him  to  the  field.  A  number  of  prostitutes 
followed  the  Imperialists;  while,  with  the  view  of  pre- 
venting such  excesses,  Gustavus'  care  for  the  morals  of 
his  soldiers  promoted  marriages.  For  the  rising  genera- 
tion who  had  this  camp  for  their  home  and  country, 
regular  military  schools  were  established,  which  educated 


246  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

a  race  of  excellent  warriors,  by  which  means  the  army 
might  in  a  manner  recruit  itself  in  the  course  of  a  long 
campaign.  No  wonder,  then,  if  these  wandering  nations 
exhausted  every  territory  in  which  they  encamped,  and 
by  their  immense  consumption  raised  the  necessaries  of 
life  to  an  exorbitant  price.  All  the  mills  of  Nuremberg 
were  insufficient  to  grind  the  corn  required  for  each  day ; 
and  fifteen  thousand  pounds  of  bread,  which  were  daily 
delivered  by  the  town  into  the  Swedish  camp,  excited 
without  allaying  the  hunger  of  the  soldiers.  The  laudable 
exertions  of  the  magistrates  of  Nuremberg  could  not 
prevent  the  greater  part  of  the  horses  from  dying  for 
want  of  forage,  while  the  increasing  mortality  in  the 
camp  consigned  more  than  a  hundred  men  daily  to  the 
grave. 

To  put  an  end  to  these  distresses,  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
relying  on  his  numerical  superiority,  left  his  lines  on  the 
twenty-fifth  day,  forming  before  the  enemy  in  order  of 
battle,  while  he  cannonaded  the  duke's  camp  from  three  bat- 
teries erected  on  the  side  of  the  Rednitz.  But  the  duke 
remained  immovable  in  his  intrenchments  and  contented 
himself  with  answering  this  challenge  by  a  distant  fire  of 
cannon  and  musketry.  His  plan  was  to  wear  out  the 
king  by  his  inactivity,  and  by  the  force  of  famine  to  over- 
come his  resolute  determination  ;  and  neither  the  remon- 
strances of  Maximilian,  and  the  impatience  of  his  army, 
nor  the  ridicule  of  his  opponent,  could  shake  his  purpose. 
Gustavus,  deceived  in  his  hope  of  forcing  a  battle,  and 
compelled  by  his  increasing  necessities,  now  attempted 
impossibilities,  and  resolved  to  storm  a  position  which 
art  and  nature  had  combined  to  render  impregnable. 

Entrusting  his  own  camp  to  the  militia  of  Nuremberg 
on  the  fifty-eighth  day  of  his  encampment  (the  festival 
of  St.  Bartholomew),  he  advanced  in  full  order  of  battle, 
and  passing  the  Rednitz  at  Furth,  easily  drove  the  enemy's 
outposts  before  him.  The  main  army  of  the  Imperialists 
was  posted  on  the  steep  heights  between  the  Biber  and 
the  Rednitz,  called  the  Old  Fortress  and  Altenberg; 
while  the  camp  itself,  commanded  by  these  eminences, 
spread  out  immeasurably  along  the  plain.  On  these 
heights  the  whole  of  the  artillery  was  placed.  Deep 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  247 

trenches  surrounded  inaccessible  redoubts,  while  thick 
barricades,  with  pointed  palisades,  defended  the  ap- 
proaches to  the  heights,  from  the  summits  of  which 
Wallenstein  calmly  and  securely  discharged  the  lightnings 
of  his  artillery  from  amid  the  dark  thunder-clouds  of 
smoke.  A  destructive  fire  of  musketry  was  maintained 
behind  the  breastworks,  and  a  hundred  pieces  of  cannon 
threatened  the  desperate  assailant  with  certain  destruc- 
tion. Against  this  dangerous  post  Gustavus  now  di- 
rected his  attack;  five  hundred  musketeers,  supported 
by  a  few  infantry  (for  a  greater  number  could  not  act 
in  the  narrow  space),  enjoyed  the  unenvied  privilege  of 
first  throwing  themselves  into  the  open  jaws  of  death. 
The  assault  was  furious,  the  resistance  obstinate.  Ex- 
posed to  the  whole  fire  of  the  enemy's  artillery,  and 
infuriate  by  the  prospect  of  inevitable  death,  these  deter- 
mined warriors  rushed  forward  to  storm  the  heights ; 
which,  in  an  instant,  converted  into  a  flaming  volcano, 
discharged  on  them  a  shower  of  shot.  At  the  same 
moment,  the  heavy  cavalry  rushed  forward  into  the 
openings  which  the  artillery  had  made  in  the  close  ranks 
of  the  assailants,  and  divided  them ;  till  the  intrepid 
band,  conquered  by  the  strength  of  nature  and  of  man, 
took  to  flight,  leaving  a  hundred  dead  upon  the  field. 
To  Germans  had  Gustavus  yielded  this  post  of  honor. 
Exasperated  at  their  retreat,  he  now  led  on  his  Finlanders 
to  the  attack,  thinking,  by  their  northern  courage,  to 
shame  the  cowardice  of  the  Germans.  But  they,  also, 
after  a  similar  hot  reception,  yielded  to  the  superiority  of 
the  enemy ;  and  a  third  regiment  succeeded  them  to 
experience  the  same  fate.  This  was  replaced  by  a  fourth, 
a  fifth,  and  a  sixth ;  so  that,  during  a  ten  hour's  action 
every  regiment  was  brought  to  the  attack  to  retire  with 
bloody  loss  from  the  contest.  A  thousand  mangled 
bodies  covered  the  field ;  yet  Gustavus  undauntedly 
maintained  the  attack,  and  Wallenstein  held  his  position 
unshaken. 

In  the  meantime  a  sharp  contest  had  taken  place  be- 
tween the  imperial  cavalry  and  the  left  wing  of  the 
Swedes,  which  was  posted  in  a  thicket  on  the  Rednitz, 
with  varying  success,  but  with  equal  intrepidity  and  loss 


248  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

on  both  sides.  The  Duke  of  Friedland  and  Prince 
Bernard  of  Weimar  had  each  a  horse  shot  under  them  ; 
the  king  himself  had  the  sole  of  his  boot  carried  off  by  a 
cannon  ball.  The  combat  was  maintained  with  undi- 
minished  obstinacy,  till  the  approach  of  night  separated 
the  combatants.  But  the  Swedes  had  advanced  too  far 
to  retreat  without  hazard.  While  the  king  was  seeking 
an  officer  to  convey  to  the  regiments  the  order  to  retreat, 
he  met  Colonel  Hepburn,  a  brave  Scotchman,  whose 
native  courage  alone  had  drawn  him  from  the  camp  to 
share  in  the  dangers  of  the  day.  Offended  with  the  king 
for  having  not  long  before  preferred  a  younger  officer 
for  some  post  of  danger,  he  had  rashly  vowed  never 
again  to  draw  his  sword  for  the  king.  To  him  Gustavus 
now  addressed  himself,  praising  his  courage,  and  re- 
questing him  to  order  the  regiments  to  retreat.  "  Sire," 
replied  the  brave  soldier,  "  it  is  the  only  service  I  cannot 
refuse  to  your  Majesty  ;  for  it  is  a  hazardous  one,"  —  and 
immediately  hastened  to  carry  the  command.  One  of 
the  heights  above  the  old  fortress  had,  in  the  heat  of  the 
action,  been  carried  by  the  Duke  of  Weimar.  It  com- 
manded the  hills  and  the  whole  camp.  But  the  heavy 
rain  which  fell  during  the  night  rendered  it  impossible 
to  draw  up  the  cannon ;  and  this  post,  which  had  been 
gained  with  so  much  bloodshed,  was  also  voluntarily  aban- 
doned Diffident  of  fortune,  which  forsook  him  on  this  de- 
cisive day,  the  king  did  not  venture  the  following  morning 
to  renew  the  attack  with  his  exhausted  troops;  and  van- 
quished for  the  first  time,  even  because  he  was  not  victor, 
he  led  back  his  troops  over  the  Rednitz.  Two  thousand 
dead  which  he  left  behind  him  on  the  field  testified  to 
the  extent  of  his  loss  ;  and  the  Duke  of  Friedland  re- 
mained unconquered  within  his  lines. 

For  fourteen  days  after  this  action  the  two  armies  still 
continued  in  front  of  each  other,  each  in  the  hope  that 
the  other  would  be  the  first  to  give  way.  Every  day 
reduced  their  provisions,  and  as  scarcity  became  greater, 
the  excesses  of  the  soldiers,  rendered  furious,  exercised 
the  wildest  outrages  on  the  peasantry.  The  increasing 
distress  broke  up  all  discipline  and  order  in  the  Swedish 
camp ;  and  the  German  regiments,  in  particular,  distin- 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  249 

guished  themselves  for  the  ravages  they  practised  indis- 
criminately on  friend  and  foe.  The  weak  hand  of  a  single 
individual  could  not  check  excesses  encouraged  by  the 
silence,  if  not  the  actual  example,  of  the  inferior  officers. 
These  shameful  breaches  of  discipline,  on  the  maintenance 
of  which  he  had  hitherto  justly  prided  himself,  severely 
pained  the  king;  and  the  vehemence  with  which  he 
reproached  the  German  officers  for  their  negligence  be- 
spoke the  liveliness  of  his  emotion.  "  It  is  you  your- 
selves, Germans,"  said  he,  "  that  rob  your  native  country 
and  ruin  your  own  confederates  in  the  faith.  As  God  is 
my  judge,  I  abhor  you,  I  loathe  you;  my  heart  sinks 
Avithin  me  whenever  I  look  upon  you.  Ye  break  my 
orders  ;  ye  are  the  cause  that  the  world  curses  me,  that 
the  tears  of  poverty  follow  me,  that  complaints  ring  in 
my  ear  — '  The  king,  our  friend,  does  us  more  harm  than 
even  our  worst  enemies.'  On  your  account  I  have 
stripped  my  own  kingdom  of  its  treasures,  and  spent 
upon  you  more  than  forty  tons  of  gold  ;*  while  from  your 
German  empire  I  have  not  received  the  least  aid.  I  gave 
you  a  share  of  all  that  God  had  given  tome;  and'had  ye 
regarded  my  orders  I  would  have  gladly  shared  with  you 
all  my  future  acquisitions.  Your  want  of  discipline  con- 
vinces me  of  your  evil  intentions,  whatever  cause  I  might 
otherwise  have  to  applaud  your  bravery." 

Nuremberg  had  exerted  itself,  almost  beyond  its  power, 
to  subsist  for  eleven  weeks  the  vast  crowd  which  was 
compressed  within  its  boundaries;  but  its  means  were  at 
length  exhausted,  and  the  king's  more  numerous  party 
was  obliged  to  determine  on  a  retreat.  By  the  casualties 
of  war  and  sickness  Nuremberg  had  lost  more  than  ten 
thousand  of  its  inhabitants,  and  Gustavus  Adolphus 
nearly  twenty  thousand  of  his  soldiers.  The  fields 
around  the  city  were  trampled  down,  the  villages  lay  in 
ashes,  the  plundered  peasantry  lay  faint  and  dying  on 
the  highways ;  foul  odors  infected  the  air,  and  bad  food, 
the  exhalations  from  so  dense  a  population,  and  so  many 
putrifying  carcasses,  together  with  the  heat  of  the  dog- 
days,  produced  a .  desolating  pestilence  which  raged 
among  men  and  beasts,  and  long  after  the  retreat  of  both 

*  A  toil  of  gold  in  Sweden  amounts  to  one  hundred  thousand  rix  dollars. 


250  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*    WAR. 

armies  continued  to  load  the  country  with  misery  and 
distress.  Affected  by  the  general  distress,  and  despairing 
of  conquering  the  steady  determination  of  the  Duke  of 
Friedland,  the  king  broke  up  his  camp  on  the  8th  Sep- 
tember, leaving  in  Nuremberg  a  sufficient  garrison.  He 
advanced  in  full  order  of  battle  before  the  enemy,  who 
remained  motionless,  and  did  not  attempt  in  the  least  to 
harass  his  retreat.  His  route  lay  by  the  Aisch  and  Wind- 
sheim  towards  Neustadt,  where  he  halted  five  days  to 
refresh  his  troops,  and  also  to  be  near  to  Nuremberg  in 
case  the  enemy  should  make  an  attempt  upon  the  town. 
But  Wallenstein,  as  exhausted  as  himself,  had  only 
awaited  the  retreat  of  the  Swedes  to  commence  his  own. 
Five  days  afterwards  he  broke  up  his  camp  at  Zirndorf, 
and  set  it  on  fire.  A  hundred  columns  of  smoke,  rising 
from  all  the  burning  villages  in  the  neighborhood,  an- 
nounced his  retreat,  and  showed  the  city  the  fate  it  had 
escaped.  His  march,  which  was  directed  on  Forchheim, 
was  marked  by  the  most  frightful  ravages ;  but  he  was 
too  far  advanced  to  be  overtaken  by  the  king.  The  latter 
now  divided  his  army,  which  the  exhausted  country  was 
unable  to  support,  and  leaving  one  division  to  protect 
Franconia,  with  the  other  he  prosecuted  in  person  his 
conquests  in  Bavaria. 

In  the  meantime  the  imperial  Bavarian  army  had 
marched  into  the  Bishopric  of  Bamberg,  where  the  Duke 
of  Friedland  a  second  time  mustered  his  troops.  He 
found  this  force,  which  so  lately  had  amounted  to  sixty 
thousand  men,  diminished  by  the  sword,  desertion,  and 
disease  to  about  twenty-four  thousand,  and  of  these  a 
fourth  were  Bavarians!  Thus  had  the  encampments 
before  Nuremberg  weakened  both  parties  more  than  two 
great  battles  would  have  done,  apparently  without  ad- 
vancing the  termination  of  the  war,  or  satisfying,  by  any 
decisive  result,  the  expectations  of  Europe.  The  king's 
conquests  in  Bavaria,  were,  it  is  true,  checked  for  a  time 
by  this  diversion  before  Nuremberg,  and  Austria  itself 
secured  against  the  danger  of  immediate  invasion  ;  but 
by  the  retreat  of  the  king  from  that  city,  he  was  again 
left  at  full  liberty  to  make  Bavaria  the  seat  of  war.  In- 
different towards  the  fate  of  that  country,  and  weary  of 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  251 

the  restraint  which  his  union  with  the  Elector  imposed 
upon  him,  the  Duke  of  Friedland  eagerly  seized  the  oppor- 
tunity of  separating  from  this  burdensome  associate,  and 
prosecuting,  with  renewed  earnestness,  his  favorite  plans. 
Still  adhering  to  his  purpose  of  detaching  Saxony  from 
its  Swedish  alliance,  he  selected  that  country  for  his  win- 
ter quarters,  hoping  by  his  destructive  presence  to  force 
fie  Elector  the  more  readily  into  his  views. 

Xo  conjuncture  could  be  more  favorable  for  his  designs. 
The  Saxons  had  invaded  Silesia,  where,  reinforced  by 
troops  from  Brandenburg  and  Sweden,  they  had  gained 
several  advantages  over  the  Emperor's  troops.  Silesia 
would  be  saved  by  a  diversion  against  the  Elector  in  his 
own  territories,  and  the  attempt  was  the  more  easy  as 
Saxony,  left  undefended  during  the  war  in  Silesia,  lay 
open  on  every  side  to  attack.  The  pretext  of  rescuing 
from  the  enemy  an  hereditary  dominion  of  Austria  would 
silence  the  remonstrances  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  and, 
under  the  mask  of  a  patriotic  zeal  for  the  Emperor's  in- 
terests, Maximilian  might  be  sacrificed  without  much 
difficulty.  By  giving  up  the  rich  country  of  Bavaria  to 
the  Swedes  he  hoped  to  be  left  unmolested  by  them  in 
his  enterprise  against  Saxony,  Avhile  the  increasing  cold- 
ness between  Gustavus  and  the  Saxon  Court  gave  him 
little  reason  to  apprehend  any  extraordinary  zeal  for  the 
deliverance  of  John  George.  Thus  a  second  time  aban- 
doned by  his  artful  protector,  the  Elector  separated  from 
Wallenstein  at  Bamberg,  to  protect  his  defenceless  terri- 
tory with  the  small  remains  of  his  troops,  while  the  im- 
perial army,  under  Wallenstein,  directed  its  march 
through  Beyreuth  and  Coburg  towards  the  Thuringian 
Forest. 

An  imperial  general,  Hoik,  had  previously  been  sent 
into  Vogtland  with  six  thousand  men  to  waste  this 
defenceless  province  with  fire  and  sword ;  he  was  soon 
followed  by  Gallus,  another  of  the  duke's  generals,  and 
an  equally  faithful  instrument  of  his  inhuman  orders. 
Finally,  Pappenheim,  too,  was  recalled  from  Lower  Sax- 
ony, to  reinforce  the  diminished  army  of  the  duke,  and 
to  complete  the  miseries  of  the  devoted  country.  Ruined 
churches,  villages  in  ashes,  harvests  wilfully  destroyed, 


252  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

families  plundered,  and  murdered  peasants  marked  the 
progress  of  these  barbarians,  under  whose  scourge  the 
whole  of  Thuringia,  Vogtland,  and  Meissen  lay  defence- 
less. Yet  this  was  but  the  prelude  to  greater  sufferings, 
with  which  Wallenstein  himself,  at  the  head  of  the  main 
army,  threatened  Saxony.  After  having  left  behind  him 
fearful  monuments  of  his  fury,  in  his  march  through 
Franconia  and  Thuringia,  he  arrived  with  his  whole  army 
in  the  Circle  of  Leipzig,  and  compelled  the  city,  after  a 
short  resistance,  to  surrender.  His  design  was  to  push  on 
to  Dresden,  and  by  the  conquest  of  the  whole  country, 
to  prescribe  laws  to  the  Elector.  He  had  already  ap- 
proached the  Mulda,  threatening  to  overpower  the  Saxon 
army  which  had  advanced  as  far  as  Torgau  to  meet  him, 
when  the  King  of  Sweden's  arrival  at  Erfurt  gave  an 
unexpected  check  to  his  operations.  Placed  between  the 
Saxon  and  Swedish  armies,  which  were  likely  to  be  far- 
ther reinforced  by  the  troops  of  George,  Duke  of  Lunen- 
burg,  from  Lower  Saxony,  he  hastily  retired  upon  Merse- 
berg,  to  form  a  junction  there  with  Count  Pappenheim, 
and  to  repel  the  further  advance  of  the  Swedes. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  had  witnessed  with  great  uneasi- 
ness the  arts  employed  by  Spain  and  Austria  to  detach 
his  allies  from  him.  The  more  important  his  alliance  with 
Saxony  the  more  anxiety  the  inconstant  temper  of  John 
George  caused  him.  Between  himself  and  the  Elector  a 
sincere  friendship  could  never  subsist.  A  prince  proud 
of  his  political  importance,  and  accustomed  to  consider 
himself  as  the  head  of  his  party,  could  not  see  without 
annoyance  the  interference  of  a  foreign  power  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Empire ;  and  nothing  but  the  extreme 
danger  of  his  dominions  could  overcome  the  aversion 
with  which  he  had  long  witnessed  the  progress  of  this 
unwelcome  intruder.  The  increasing  influence  of  the 
king  in  Germany,  his  authority  with  the  Protestant  states, 
the  unambiguous  proofs  which  he  gave  of  his  ambitious 
views,  which  were  of  a  character  calculated  to  excite 
the  jealousies  of  all  the  states  of  the  Empire,  awakened 
in  the  Elector's  breast  a  thousand  anxieties,  which  the 
imperial  emissaries  did  not  fail  skilfully  to  keep  alive  and 
cherish.  Every  arbitrary  step  on  the  part  of  the  king, 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  253 

every  demand,  however  reasonable,  which  he  addressed 
to  the  princes  of  the  Empire,  was  followed  by  bitter  com- 
plaints from  the  Elector,  which  seemed  to  announce  an 
approaching  rupture.  Even  the  generals  of  the  two 
powers,  whenever  they  were  called  upon  to  act  in  com- 
mon, manifested  the  same  jealousy  as  divided  their 
leaders.  John  George's  natural  aversion  to  war,  and  a 
lingering  attachment  to  Austria,  favored  the  efforts  of 
Arnheim ;  who,  maintaining  a  constant  correspondence 
with  Wallenstein,  labored  incessantly  to  effect  a  private 
treaty  between  his  master  and  the  Emperor ;  and  if  his 
representations  were  long  disregarded,  still  the  event 
proved  that  they  were  not  altogether  without  effect. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  naturally  apprehensive  of  the  con- 
sequences which  the  defection  of  so  powerful  an  ally 
would  produce  on  his  future  prospects  in  Germany,  spared 
no  pains  to  avert  so  pernicious  an  event ;  and  his  remon- 
strances had  hitherto  had  some  effect  upon  the  Elector. 
But  the  formidable  power  with  which  the  Emperor  sec- 
onded his  seductive  proposals,  and  the  miseries  which,  in 
the  case  of  hesitation,  he  threatened  to  accumulate  upon 
Saxony,  might  at  length  overcome  the  resolution  of  the 
Elector  should  he  be  left  exposed  to  the  vengeance  of  his 
enemies ;  while  an  indifference  to  the  fate  of  so  powerful 
a  confederate  would  irreparably  destroy  the  confidence  of 
the  other  allies  in  their  protector.  This  consideration 
induced  the  king  a  second  time  to  yield  to  the  pressing 
entreaties  of  the  Elector,  and  to  sacrifice  his  own  brilliant 
prospects  to  the  safety  of  this  ally.  He  had  already  re- 
solved upon  a  second  attack  on  Ingoldstadt;  and  the 
weakness  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  gave  him  hopes  of 
soon  forcing  this  exhausted  enemy  to  accede  to  a  neu- 
trality. An  insurrection  of  the  peasantry  in  Upper 
Austria  opened  to  him  a  passage  into  that  country,  and 
the  capital  might  be  in  his  possession  before  Wallenstein 
could  have  time  to  advance  to  its  defence.  All  these 
views  he  now  gave  up  for  the  sake  of  an  ally  who,  neither 
by  his  services  nor  his  fidelity,  was  worthy  of  the  sacrifice ; 
who,  on  the  pressing  occasions  of  common  good,  had 
steadily  adhered  to  his  own  selfish  projects  ;  and  who  was 
important,  not  for  the  services  he  was  expected  to  render, 


254  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

but  merely  for  the  injuries  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  in- 
flict. Is  it  possible,  then,  to  refrain  from  indignation, 
when  we  know  that  in  this  expedition,  undertaken  for 
the  benefit  of  such  an  ally,  the  great  king  was  destined  to 
terminate  his  career? 

Rapidly  assembling  his  troops  in  Franconia,  he  followed 
the  route  of  \Yallensteiu  through  Thuringia.  Duke  Ber- 
nard of  Weimar,  who  had  been  despatched  to  act  against 
Pappenheim,  joined  the  king  at  Armstadt,  who  now  saw 
himself  at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  veterans.  At 
Erfurt  he  took  leave  of  his  queen,  who  was  not  to  behold 
him,  save  in  his  coffin,  at  Weissenfels.  Their  anxious 
adieus  seemed  to  forbode  an  eternal  separation. 

He  reached  Naumburg  on  the  1st  November,  1632, 
before  the  corps,  which  the  Duke  of  Friedland  had  de- 
spatched for  that  purpose,  could  make  itself  master  of 
that  place.  The  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  country 
flocked  in  crowds  to  look  upon  the  hero,  the  avenger,  the 
great  king,  who,  a  year  before,  had  first  appeared  in  that 
quarter  like  a  guardian  angel.  Shouts  of  joy  everywhere 
attended  his  progress ;  the  people  knelt  before  him  and 
struggled  for  the  honor  of  touching  the  sheath  of  his 
sword  or  the  hern  of  his  garment.  The  modest  hero 
disliked  this  innocent  tribute  which  a  sincerely  grateful 
and  admiring  multitude  paid  him.  "  Is  it  not,"  said  he, 
"  as  if  this  people  would  make  a  God  of  me  ?  Our  affairs 
prosper,  indeed;  but  I  fear  the  vengeance  of  Heaven  will 
punish  me  for  this  presumption,  and  soon  enough  reveal 
to  this  deluded  multitude  my  human  weakness  and  mor- 
tality!" How  amiable  do^es  Gustavus  appear  before  us 
at  this  moment,  when  about  to  leave  us  forever !  Even 
in  the  plenitude  of  success  he  honors  an  avenging  Ne- 
mesis, declines  that  homage  which  is  due  only  to  the  Im- 
mortal, and  strengthens  his  title  to  our  tears  the  nearer 
the  moment  approaches  that  is  to  call  them  forth ! 

In  the  meantime  the  Duke  of  Friedland  had  deter- 
mined to  advance  to  meet  the  king  as  far  as  Weissenfels, 
and,  even  at  the  hazard  of  a  battle,  to  secure  his  winter- 
quarters  in  Saxony.  His  inactivity  before  Nuremberg 
had  occasioned  a  suspicion  that  he  was  unwilling  to 
measure  his  powers  with  those  of  the  Hero  of  the  North, 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  255 

and  his  hard-earned  reputation  would  be  at  stake  if  a 
second  time  he  should  decline  a  battle.  His  present 
superiority  in  numbers,  though  much  less  than  what  it 
was  at  the  beginning  of  the  siege  of  Nuremberg,  was  still 
enough  to  give  him  hopes  of  victory  if  he  could  compel 
the  king  to  give  battle  before  his  junction  with  the 
Saxons.  But  his  present  reliance  was  not  so  much  in 
his  numerical  superiority  as  in  the  predictions  of  his 
astrologer,  Seni,  who  had  read  in  the  stars  that  the  good 
fortune  of  the  Swedish  monarch  would  decline  in  the 
month  of  November.  Besides,  between  Naurnburg  and 
Weissenfels  there  was  also  a  range  of  narrow^  defiles, 
formed  by  a  long  mountainous  ridge  and  the  river  Saal, 
which  ran  at  their  foot,  along  which  the  Swedes  could 
not  advance  without  difficulty,  and  which  might  with  the 
assistance  of  a  few  troops  be  rendered  almost  impassable. 
If  attacked  there  the  king  would  have  no  choice  but 
either  to  penetrate  with  great  danger  through  the  defiles, 
or  commence  a  laborious  retreat  through  Thuringia,  and 
to  expose  the  greater  part  of  his  army  to  a  march  through 
a  desert  country  deficient  in  every  necessary  for  their 
support.  But  the  rapidity  with  which  Gustavus  Adolphus 
had  taken  possession  of  Naumburg  disappointed  this 
plan,  and  it  was  now  Wallenstein  himself  who  awaited 
the  attack. 

But  in  this  expectation  he  was  disappointed  ;  for  the 
king,  instead  of  advancing  to  meet  him  at  Weissenfels, 
made  preparations  for  intrenching  himself  near  Naum- 
burg, with  the  intention  of  awaiting  there  the  reinforce- 
ments which  the  Duke  of  Lunenburg  was  bringing  up. 
Undecided  whether  to  advance  against  the  king  through 
the  narrow  passes  between  Weissenfels  and  Naumburg, 
or  to  remain  inactive  in  his  camp,  he  called  a  council  of 
war  in  order  to  have  the  opinion  of  his  most  experienced 
generals.  None  of  these  thought  it  prudent  to  attack  the 
king  in  his  advantageous  position.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  preparations  which  the  latter  made  to  fortify  his 
camp  plainly  showed  that  it  was  not  his  intention  soon 
to  abandon  it.  But  the  approach  of  winter  rendered  it 
impossible  to  prolong  the  campaign,  and  by  a  continued 
encampment  to  exhaust  the  strength  of  the  army,  already 


256  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

so  much  in  need  of  repose.  All  voices  were  in  favor  of 
immediately  terminating  the  campaign  ;  and  the  more 
so  as  the  important  city  of  Cologne  upon  the  Rhine  was 
threatened  by  the  Dutch,  while  the  progress  of  the  enemy 
in  Westphalia  and  the  Lower  Rhine  called  for  effective 
reinforcements  in  that  quarter.  Wallenstein  yielded  to 
the  weight  of  these  arguments,  and  almost  convinced  that 
at  this  season  he  had  no  reason  'to  apprehend  an  attack 
from  the  king,  he  put  his  troops  into  winter  quarters,  but 
so  that,  if  necessary,  they  might  be  rapidly  assembled. 
Count  Pappenbeim  was  despatched,  with  great  part  of  the 
army,  to  the  assistance  of  Cologne,  with  orders  to  take 
possession  on  his  march  of  the  fortress  of  Moritzburg,  in 
the  territory  of  Halle.  Different  corps  took  up  their 
winter  quarters  in  the  neighboring  towns,  to  watch  on  all 
sides  the  motions  of  the  enemy.  Count  Colloredo 
guarded  the  castle  of  Weissenfels,  and  Wallenstein  him- 
self encamped  with  the  remainder  not  far  from  Merse- 
burg,  between  Flotzgaben  and  the  Saal,  from  whence  lie 
purposed  to  march  to  Leipzig,  and  to  cut  off  the  com- 
munication between  the  Saxons  and  the  Swedish  army. 

Scarcely  had  Gustavus  Adolphus  been  informed  of 
Pappenheim's  departure  when,  suddenly  breaking  up  his 
camp  at  Naumburg,  he  hastened  with  his  whole  force  to 
attack  the  enemy,  now  weakened  to  one-half.  He  ad- 
vanced by  rapid  marches  towards  Weissenfels,  from 
whence  the  news  of  his  arrival  quickly  reached  the  enemy, 
and  greatly  astonished  the  Duke  of  Friedland.  But  a 
speedy  resolution  was  now  necessary ;  and  the  measures 
of  Wallenstein  were  soon  taken.  Though  he  had  little 
more  than  twelve  thousand  men  to  oppose  to  the  twenty 
thousand  of  the  enemy,  he  might  hope  to  maintain  his 
ground  until  the  return  of  Pappenheim,  who  could  not 
have  advanced  farther  than  Halle,  five  miles  distant. 
Messengers  were  hastily  despatched  to  recall  him,  while 
Wallenstein  moved  forward  into  the  wide  plain  between 
the  Canal  and  Lutzen,  where  he  awaited  the  king  in  full 
order  of  battle,  and  by  this  position  cut  off  his  commu- 
nication with  Leipzig  and  the  Saxon  auxiliaries. 

Three  cannon  shots,  fired  by  Count  Colloredo  from  the 
Castle  of  Weissenfels,  announced  the  king's  approach  ; 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  257 

and  at  this  concerted  signal  the  light  troops  of  the  Duke 
of  Friedland,  under  the  command  of  the  Croatian  Gen- 
eral Isolani,  moved  forward  to  possess  themselves  of 
the  villages  lying  upon  the  Rippach.  Their  weak 
resistance  did  not  impede  the  advance  of  the  enemy, 
who  crossed  the  Rippach,  near  the  village  of  that  name, 
and  formed  in  line  below  Lutzen,  opposite  the  Imperialists. 
The  high  road  which  goes  from  Weissenfels  to  Leipzig  is 
intersected  between  Lutzen  and  Markranstadt  by  the 
canal  which  extends  from  Zeitz  to  Merseburg,  and  unites 
the  Elster  with  the  Saal.  On  this  canal  rested  the  left 
wing  of  the  Imperialists  and  the  right  of  the  King  of 
Sweden;  but  so  that  the  cavalry  of  both  extended  them- 
selves along  the  opposite  side.  To  the  northward,  behind 
Lutzen,  was  Wallensteiu's  right  wing,  and  to  the  south 
of  that  town  was  posted  the  left  wing  of  the  Swedes; 
both  armies  fronted  the  high  road,  which  ran  between 
them  and  divided  their  order  of  battle ;  but  the  evening 
before  the  battle  Wallenstein,  to  the  great  disadvantage 
of  his  opponent,  had  possessed  himself  of  this  highway, 
deepened  the  trenches  which  ran  along  its  sides,  and 
planted  them  with  musketeers  so  as  to  make  the  crossing 
of  it  both  difficult  and  dangerous.  Behind  these,  again, 
was  erected  a  battery  of  seven  large  pieces  of  cannon,  to 
support  the  fire  from  the  trenches;  and  at  the  windmills, 
close  behind  Lutzen,  fourteen  smaller  field-pieces  were 
ranged  on  an  eminence,  from  which  they  could  sweep  the 
greater  part  of  the  plain.  The  infantry,  divided  into  no 
more  than  five  unwieldy  brigades,  was  drawn  up  at  the 
distance  of  three  hundred  paces  from  the  road,  and  the 
cavalry  covered  the  flanks.  All  the  baggage  was  sent 
to  Leipzig,  that  it  might  not  impede  the  movements  of 
the  army;  and  the  ammunition-wagons  alone  remained, 
which  were  placed  in  rear  of  the  line.  To  conceal  the 
weakness  of  the  Imperialists  all  the  camp-followers  and 
sutlers  were  mounted,  and  posted  on  the  left  wing,  but 
only  until  Pappenheim's  troops  arrived.  These  arrange- 
ments were  made  during  the  darkness  of  the  night;  and 
when  the  morning  dawned  all  was  ready  for  the  reception 
of  the  enemy. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  Gustavus  Adolphus 


258  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

appeared  on  the  opposite  plain,  and  formed  his  troops  in 
the  order  of  attack.  His  disposition  was  the  same  as 
that  which  had  been  so  successful  the  year  befoire  at  Leip- 
zig. Small  squadrons  of  horse  were  interspersed  among 
the  divisions  of  the  infantry,  and  troops  of  musketeers 
placed  here  and  there  among  the  cavalry.  The  army 
was  arranged  in  two  lines,  the  canal  on  the  right  and  in 
its  rear,  the  high  road  in  front,  and  the  town  on  the  left. 
In  the  centre  the  infantry  was  formed,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Count  Brahe;  the  cavalry  on  the  wings;  the 
artillery  in  front.  To  the  German  hero,  Bernard,  Duke 
of  Weimar,  was  entrusted  the  command  of  the  German 
cavalry  of  the  left  wing ;  while  on  the  right  the  king 
led  on  the  Swedes  in  person,  in  order  to  excite  the  emula- 
tion of  the  two  nations  to  a  noble  competition.  The 
second  line  was  formed  in  the  same  manner ;  and  behind 
these  was  placed  the  reserve,  commanded  by  Henderson, 
a  Scotchman. 

In  this  position  they  awaited  the  eventful  dawn  of 
morning  to  begin  a  contest,  which  long  delay,  rather 
than  the  probability  of  decisive  consequences,  and  the 
picked  body,  rather  than  the  number  of  combatants,  was 
to  render  so  terrible  and  remarkable.  The  strained 
expectation  of  Europe,  so  disappointed  before  Nurem- 
berg, was  now  to  be  gratified  on  the  plains  of  Lutzen. 
During  the  whole  course  of  the  war  two  such  generals, 
so  equally  matched  in  renown  and  ability,  had  not  before 
been  pitted  against  each  other.  Never  as  yet  had  daring 
been  cooled  by  so  awful  a  hazard,  or  hope  animated  by  so 
glorious  a  prize.  Europe  was  next  day  to  learn  who  was  her 
greatest  general  —  to-morrow,  the  leader,  who  had  hitherto 
been  invincible,  must  acknowledge  a  victor.  This  morn- 
ing was  to  place  it  beyond  a  doubt  whether  the  victories 
of  Gustavus  at  Leipzig  and  on  the  Lech  were  owing  to 
his  own  military  genius  or  to  the  incompetency  of  his 
opponent ;  whether  the  services  of  Wallenstein  were  to 
vindicate  the  Emperor's  choice,  and  justify  the  high  price 
at  which  they  had  been  purchased.  The  viftory  was  as 
yet  doubtful,  but  certain  were  the  labor  and  the  bloodshed 
by  which  it  must  be  earned.  Every  private  in  both 
armies  felt  a  jealous  share  in  their  leader's  reputation, 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  259 

and  under  every  corslet  beat  the  same  emotions  that 
inflamed  the  bosoms  of  the  generals.  Each  army  knew 
the  enemy  to  which  it  was  to  be  opposed  ;  and  the  anxiety 
which  each  in  vain  attempted  to  repress  was  a  convincing 
proof  of  their  opponent's  strength. 

At  last  the  fatal  morning  dawned ;  but  an  impenetra- 
ble fog,  which  spread  over  the  plain,  delayed  the  attack 
till  noon.  Kneeling  in  front  of  his  lines  the  king  offered 
up  his  devotions;  and  the  whole  army  at  the  same  mo- 
ment dropping  on  their  knees  burst  into  a  moving  hymn, 
accompanied  by  the  military  music.  The  king  then 
mounted  his  horse,  and  clad  only  in  a  leathern  doublet 
and  surtout  (for  a  wound  he  had  formerly  received  pre- 
vented his  wearing  armor),  he  rode  along  the  ranks  to 
animate  the  courage  of  his  troops  with  a  joyful  confi- 
dence, which,  however,  the  forboding  presentment  of  his 
own  bosom  contradicted.  "God  with  us!  "  was  the  war- 
cry  of  the  Swedes;  "Jesus  Maria!"  that  of  the  Imperial- 
ists. About  eleven  the  fog  began  to  disperse  and  the 
enemy  became  visible.  At  the  same  moment  Lutzen 
was  seen  in  flames,  having  been  set  on  fire  by  command 
of  the  duke  to  prevent  his  being  outflanked  on  that  side. 
The  charge  was  now  sounded  ;  the  cavalry  rushed  upon 
the  enemy,  and  the  infantry  advanced  against  the 
trenches. 

Received  by  a  tremendous  fire  of  musketry  and  heavy 
artillery,  these  intrepid  battalions  maintained  the  attack 
with  undaunted  courage  till  the  enemy's  musketeers 
abandoned  their  posts,  the  trenches  were  passed,  the 
battery  carried  and  turned  against  the  enemy.  They 
pressed  forward  with  irresistible  impetuosity;  the  first  of 
the  five  imperial  brigades  was  immediately  routed,  the 
second  soon  after,  and  the  third  put  to  flight.  But  here 
the  genius  of  Wallenstein  opposed  itself  to  their  pro- 
gress. With  the  rapidity  of  lightning  he  was  on  the  spot 
to  rally  his  discomfited  troops;  and  his  powerful  word 
was  itself  sufficient  to  stop  the  flight  of  the  fugitives. 
Supported  by  three  regiments  of  cavalry  the  vanquished 
brigades,  forming  anew,  faced  the  enemy  and  pressed 
vigorously  into  the  broken  ranks  of  the  Swedes.  A 
murderous  conflict  ensued.  The  nearness  of  the  enemy 


260  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

left  no  room  for  firearms,  the  fury  of  the  attack  no  time 
for  loading ;  man  was  matched  to  man,  the  useless  musket 
exchanged  for  the  sword  and  pike,  and  science  gave  way 
to  desperation.  Overpowered  by  numbers  the  wearied 
Swedes  at  last  retire  beyond  the  trenches,  and  the  cap- 
tured battery  is  again  lost  by  the  retreat.  A  thousand 
mangled  bodies  already  strewed  the  plain,  and  as  yet  not 
a  single  step  of  ground  had  been  won. 

In  the  meantime  the  king's  right  wing,  led  by  himself, 
had  fallen  upon  the  enemy's  left.  The  first  impetuous 
shock  of  the  heavy  Finland  cuirassiers  dispersed  the 
lightly-mounted  Poles  and  Croats  who  were  posted  here, 
and  their  disorderly  flight  spread  terror  and  confusion 
among  the  rest  of  the  cavalry.  At  this  moment  notice 
was  brought  to  the  king  that  his  infantry  were  retreating 
over  the  trenches,  and  also  that  his  left  wing,  exposed  to 
a  severe  fire  from  the  enemy's  cannon  posted  at  the  wind- 
mills, was  beginning  to  give  way.  With  rapid  decision 
he  committed  to  General  Horn  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy's 
left,  while  he  flew,  at  the  head  of  the  regiment  of  Stein- 
bock,  to  repair  the  disorder  of  his  right  wing.  His  noble 
charger  bore  him  with  the  velocity  of  lightning  across 
the  trenches,  but  the  squadrons  that  followed  could  not 
come  on  with  the  same  speed,  and  only  a  few  horsemen, 
among  whom  was  Francis  Albert,  Duke  of  Saxe  Lauen- 
burg,  were  able  to  keep  up  with  the  king.  He  rode 
directly  to  the  place  where  his  infantry  were  most  closely 
pressed,  and  while  he  was  reconnoitring  the  enemy's  line 
for  an  exposed  point  of  attack  the  shortness  of  his  sight 
unfortunately  led  him  too  close  to  their  ranks.  An  im- 
perial Gefreyter,*  remarking  that  every  one  respectfully 
made  way  for  him  as  he  rode  along,  immediately  ordered 
a  musketeer  to  take  aim  at  him.  "  Fire  at  him  yonder," 
said  he,  "  that  must  be  a  man  of  consequence."  The 
soldier  fired,  and  the  king's  left  arm  was  shattered.  At 
that  moment  his  squadrons  came  hurrying  up,  and  a  con- 
fused cry  of  "  the  king  bleeds  !  the  king  is  shot !  "  spread 
terror  and  consternation  through  all  the  ranks.  "  It  is 
nothing  —  follow  me,"  cried  the  king,  collecting  his  whole 

*  Gef reyter,  a  person  exempt  from  watching  duty,  nearly  corresponding  to 
the  corporal. 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  261 

strength ;  but  overcome  by  pain,  and  nearly  fainting,  he 
requested  the  Duke  of  Lauenburg,  in  French,  to  lead  him 
unobserved  out  of  the  tumult.  While  the  duke  proceeded 
towards  the  right  wing  with  the  king,  making  a  long 
circuit  to  keep  this  discouraging  sight  from  the  disordered 
infantry,  his  majesty  received  a  second  shot  through  the 
back,  which  deprived  him  of  his  remaining  strength. 
"  Brother,"  said  he,  with  a  dying  voice,  "  I  have  enough ! 
look  only  to  your  own  life.  At  the  same  moment  he 
fell  from  his  horse  pierced  by  several  more  shots,  and 
abandoned  by  all  his  attendants  he  breathed  his  last 
amidst  the  plundering  hands  of  the  Croats.  His  charger, 
flying  without  its  rider,  and  covered  with  blood,  soon 
made  known  to  the  Swedish  cavalry  the  fall  of  their 
king.  They  rushed  madly  forward  to  rescue  his  sacred 
remains  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  A  murderous 
conflict  ensued  over  the  body  till  his  mangled  remains 
were  buried  beneath  a  heap  of  slain. 

The  mournful  tidings  soon  ran  through  the  Swedish 
army ;  but  instead  of  destroying  the  courage  of  these 
brave  troops,  it  but  excited  it  into  a  new,  a  wild,  and 
consuming  flame.  Life  had  lessened  in  value  now  that 
the  most  sacred  life  of  all  was  gone ;  death  had  no  terrors 
for  the  lowly  since  the  anointed  head  was  not  spared. 
With  the  fury  of  lions  the  Upland,  Smaland,  Finland, 
East  and  West  Gothland  regiments  rushed  a  second  time 
upon  the  left  wing  of  the  enemy,  which,  already  making 
but  feeble  resistance  to  General  Horn,  was  now  entirely 
beaten  from  the  field.  Bernard,  Duke  of  Saxe- Weimar, 
gave  to  the  bereaved  Swedes  a  noble  leader  in  his  own 
person  ;  and  the  spirit  of  Gustavus  led  his  victorious 
squadrons  anew.  The  left  wing  quickly  formed  again 
and  vigorously  pressed  the  right  of  the  Imperialists. 
The  artillery  at  the  windmills,  which  had  maintained  so 
murderous  a  fire  upon  the  Swedes,  was  captured  and 
turned  against  the  enemy.  The  centre  also  of  the 
Swedish  infantry,  commanded  by  the  duke  and  Knyp- 
hausen,  advanced  a  second  time  against  the  trenches, 
which  they  successfully  passed,  and  retook  the  battery  of 
seven  cannons.  The  attack  was  now  renewed  with  re- 
doubled fury  upon  the  heavy  battalions  of  the  enemy's 


262  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

centre ;  their  resistance  became  gradually  less,  and  chance 
conspired  with  Swedish  valor  to  complete  the  defeat. 
The  imperial  powder-wagons  took  fire,  and,  with  a  tre- 
mendous explosion,  grenades  and  bombs  filled  the  air. 
The  enemy,  now  in  confusion,  thought  they  were  attacked 
in  the  rear,  while  the  Swedish  brigades  pressed  them  in 
front.  Their  courage  began  to  fail  them.  Their  left 
wing  was  already  beaten,  their  right  wavering,  and  their 
artillery  in  the  enemy's  hands.  The  battle  seemed  to  be 
almost  decided ;  another  moment  would  decide  the  fate 
of  the  day,  when  Pappenheim  appeared  on  the  field  with 
his  cuirassiers  and  dragoons;  all  the  advantages  already 
gained  were  lost,  and  the  battle  was  to  be  fought  anew. 

The  order  which  recalled  that  general  to  Lutzen  had 
reached  him  in  Halle,  while  his  troops  were  still  plunder- 
ing the  town.  It  was  impossible  to  collect  the  scattered 
infantry  with  that  rapidity  which  the  urgency  of  the 
order  and  Pappenheim's  impatience  required.  Without 
waiting  for  it,  therefore,  he  ordered  eight  regiments  of 
cavalry  to  mount,  and  at  their  head  he  galloped  at  full 
speed  for  Lutzen  to  share  in  the  battle.  He  arrived  in 
time  to  witness  the  flight  of  the  imperial  right  wing, 
which  Gustavus  Horn  was  driving  from  the  field,  and  to 
be  at  first  involved  in  their  rout.  But  with  rapid  pres- 
ence of  mind  he  rallied  the  flying  troops  and  led  them 
once  more  against  the  enemy.  Carried  away  by  his  wild 
bravery,  and  impatient  to  encounter  the  king,  who  he 
supposed  was  at  the  head  of  this  wing,  he  burst  furiously 
upon  the  Swedish  ranks,  which,  exhausted  by  victory 
and  inferior  in  numbers,  were,  after  a  noble  resistance, 
overpowered  by  this  fresh  body  of  enemies.  Pappen- 
heim's unexpected  appearance  revived  the  drooping 
courage  of  the  Imperialists,  and  the  Duke  of  Friedland 
quickly  availed  himself  of  the  favorable  moment  to  re- 
form his  line.  The  closely  serried  battalion  of  the 
Swedes  were,  after  a  tremendous  conflict,  again  driven 
across  the  trenches,  and  the  battery,  which  had  been 
twice  lost,  again  rescued  from  their  hands.  The  whole 
yellow  regiment,  the  finest  of  all  that  distingushed 
themselves  in  this  dreadful  day,  lay  dead  on  the  field, 
covering  the  ground  almost  in  the  same  excellent  order 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    AVAR.  263 

which,  when  alive,  they  maintained  with  such  unyielding 
courage.  The  same  fate  befel  another  regiment  of  Blues 
which  Count  Piccolomini  attacked  with  the  imperial 
cavalry,  and  cut  down  after  a  desperate  contest.  Seven 
times  did  this  intrepid  general  renew  the  attack  ;  seven 
horses  were  shot  under  him,  and  he  himself  was  pierced 
with  six  musket  balls ;  yet  he  would  not  leave  the  field 
until  he  was  carried  along  in  the  general  rout  of  the 
whole  army.  Wallenstein  himself  was  seen  riding 
through  his  ranks  with  cool  intrepidity,  amidst  a  shower 
of  balls,  assisting  the  distressed,  encouraging  the  valiant 
with  praise,  and  the  wavering  by  his  fearful  glance. 
Aroun  1  and  close  by  him  his  men  were  falling  thick,  and 
his  own  mantle  was  perforated  by  several  shots.  But 
avenging  destiny  this  day  protected  that  breast  for  which 
another  weapon  was  reserved  ;  on  the  same  field  where 
the  noble  Gustavus  expired  Wallenstein  was  not  allowed 
to  terminate  his  guilty  career. 

Less  fortunate  was  Pappenheim,  the  Telamon  of  the 
army,  the  bravest  soldier  of  Austria  and  the  church.  An 
ardent  desire  to  encounter  the  king  in  person  carried 
this  daring  leader  into  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  where  he 
thought  his  noble  opponent  was  most  surely  to  be  met. 
Gustavus  had  also  expressed  a  wish  to  meet  his  brave 
antagonist,  but  these  hostile  wishes  remained  ungratified  ; 
death  first  brought  together  these  two  great  heroes. 
Two  musket-balls  pierced  the  breast  of  Pappenheim  ;  and 
his  men  forcibly  carried  him  from  the  field.  AVhile  they 
were  conveying  him  to  the  rear  a  murmur  reached  him 
that  he  whom  he  had  sought  lay  dead  upon  the  plain. 
When  the  truth  of  the  report  was  confirmed  to  him,  his 
look  became  brighter,  his  dying  eye  sparkled  with  a  last 
gleam  of  joy.  "  Tell  the  Duke  of  Friedland,"  said  he, 
"  that  I  lie  without  hope  of  life,  but  that  I  die  happy, 
since  I  know  that  the  implacable  enemy  of  my  religion 
has  fallen  on  the  some  day." 

With  Pappenheim  the  good  fortune  of  the  Imperialists 
departed.  The  cavalry  of  the  left  Wing,  already  beaten, 
and  only  rallied  by  his  exertions,  no  sooner  missed  their 
victorious  leader  than  they  gave  up  everything  for  lost, 
and  abandoned  the  field  of  battle  in  spiritless  despair. 


264  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

The  right  wing  fell  into  the  same  confusion,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  regiments,  which  the  bravery  of  their 
colonels,  Gotz,  Terzky,  Colloredo,  and  Piccolomini,  com- 
pelled to  keep  their  ground.  The  Swedish  infantry,  with 
prompt  determination,  profited  by  the  enemy's  confusion. 
To  fill  up  the  gaps  which  deatli  had  made  in  the  front 
line  they  formed  both  lines  into  one,  and  with  it  made 
the  final  and  decisive  charge.  A  third  time  they  crossed 
the  trenches,  and  a  third  time  they  captured  the  battery. 
The  sun  was  setting  when  the  two  lines  closed.  The 
strife  grew  hotter  as  it  drew  to  an  end ;  the  last  efforts 
of  strength  were  mutually  exerted,  and  skill  and  courage 
did  their  utmost  to  repair  in  these  precious  moments  the 
fortune  of  the  day.  It  was  in  vain ;  despair  endows 
every  one  with  superhuman  strength  ;  no  one  can  conquer, 
no  one  will  give  way.  The  art  of  war  seemed  to  exhaust 
its  powers  on  one  side  only  to  unfold  some  new  and 
untried  masterpiece  of  skill  on  the  other.  Night  and 
darkness  at  last  put  an  end  to  the  fight  before  the  fury 
of  the  combatants  was  exhausted ;  and  the  contest  only 
ceased  when  no  one  could  any  longer  find  an  antagonist. 
Both  armies  separated  as  if  by  tacit  agreement ;  the 
trumpets  sounded  and  each  party,  claiming  the  victory, 
quitted  the  field. 

The  artillery  on  both  sides,  as  the  horses  could  not  be 
found,  remained  all  night  upon  the  field,  at  once  the 
reward  and  the  evidence  of  victory  to  him  who  should 
hold  it.  Wallenstcin,  in  his  haste  to  leave  Leipzig  and 
Saxony,  forgot  to  remove  his  part.  Not  long  after  the 
battle  was  ended  Pappenheim's  infantry,  who  had  been 
unable  to  follow  the  rapid  movements  of  their  general, 
and  who  amounted  to  six  regiments,  marched  on  the  field, 
but  the  work  was  done.  A  few  hours  earlier  so  consid- 
erable a  reinforcement  would  perhaps  have  decided  the 
day  in  favor  of  the  Imperialists  ;  and,  even  now,  by  re- 
maining on  the  field,  they  might  have  saved  the  duke's 
artillery,  and  made  a  prize  of  that  of  the  Swedes.  But 
they  had  received  no  orders  to  act ;  and  uncertain  as  to 
the  issue  of  the  battle,  they  retired  to  Leipzig,  where 
they  hoped  to  join  the  main  body. 

The  Duke  of  Friedland  had  retreated  thither,  and  was 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  265 

followed  on  the  morrow  by  the  scattered  remains  of  his 
army,  without  artillery,  without  colors,  and  almost  with- 
out arms.  The  Duke  of  Weimar,  it  appears,  after  the 
toils  of  this  bloody  day,  allowed  the  Swedish  army  some 
repose,  between  Lutzen  and  Weissenfels,  near  enough  to 
the  field  of  battle  to  oppose  any  attempt  the  enemy 
might  make  to  recover  it.  Of  the  two  armies  more  than 
nine  thousand  men  lay  dead  ;  a  still  greater  number  were 
wounded,  and  among  the  Imperialists  scarcely  a  man 
escaped  from  the  field  uninjured.  The  entire  plain  from 
Lutzen  to  the  Canal  was  strewed  with  the  wounded,  the 
dying,  and  the  dead.  Many  of  the  principal  nobility  had 
fallen  on  both  sides.  Even  the  Abbot  of  Fulda,  who  had 
mingled  in  the  combat  as  a  spectator,  paid  for  his  curiosity 
and  his  ill-timed  zeal  with  his  life.  History  says  nothing 
of  prisoners ;  a  further  proof  of  the  animosity  of  the 
combatants,  who  neither  gave  nor  took  quarter. 

Pappenheim  died  the  next  day  of  his  wounds  at  Leipzig; 
an  irreparable  loss  to  the  imperial  army,  which  this  brave 
warrior  had  so  often  led  on  to  victory.  The  battle  of 
Prague,  where,  together  with  Wallenstein,  lie  was  pres- 
ent as  colonel,  was  the  beginning  of  his  heroic  career. 
Dangerously  wounded,  with  a  few  troops  he  made  an 
impetuous  attack  on  a  regiment  of  the  enemy,  and  lay  for 
several  hours  mixed  with  the  dead  upon  the  field  beneath 
the  weight  of  his  horse,  till  he  was  discovered  by  some 
of  his  own  men  in  plundering.  With  a  small  force  he 
defeated,  in  three  different  engagements,  the  rebels  in 
Upper  Austria,  though  forty  thousand  strong.  At 
the  battle  of  Leipzig  he  for  a  long  time  delayed  the 
defeat  of  Tilly  by  his  bravery,  and  led  the  arms  of  the 
Emperor  on  the  Elbe  and  the  Weser  to  victory.  The 
wild,  impetuous  fire  of  his  temperament,  which  no  danger, 
however  apparent,  could  cool,  or  impossibilities  check, 
made  him  the  most  powerful  arm  of  the  imperial  force, 
but  unfitted  him  for  acting  at  its  head.  The  battle  of 
Leipzig,  if  Tilly  may  be  believed,  was  lost  through  his 
rash  ardor.  At  the  destruction  of  Magdeburg  his  hands 
were  deeply  steeped  in  blood  ;  war  rendered  savage  and 
ferocious  his  disposition,  which  had  been  cultivated  by 
youthful  studies  and  various  travels.  On  his  forehead 


266  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

two  red  streaks,  like  swords,  were  perceptible,  with  which 
nature  had  marked  him  at  his  very  birth.  Even  in  his 
later  years  these  became  visible  as  often  as  his  blood  was 
stirred  by  passion;  and  superstition  easily  persuaded 
itself  that  the  future  destiny  of  the  man  was  thus  im- 
pressed upon  the  forehead  of  the  child.  As  a  faithful 
serv.mt  of  the  House  of  Austria  he  had  the  strongest 
claims  on  the  gratitude  of  both  its  lines,  but  he  did  not 
survive  to  enjoy  the  most  brilliant  proof  of  their  regard. 
A  messenger  was  already  on  his  way  from  Madrid,  bear- 
ing to  him  the  order  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  when  death 
overtook  him  at  Leipzig. 

Though  Te  Deum,  in  all  Spanish  and  Austrian  lands, 
was  sung  in  honor  of  a  victory,  Wallenstein  himself,  by 
the  haste  with  which  he  quitted  Leipzig,  and  soon  after 
all  Saxony,  and  by  renouncing  his  original  design  of 
fixing  there  his  winter  quarters,  openly  confessed  his 
defeat.  It  is  true  he  made  one  more  feeble  attempt  to 
dispute,  even  in  his  flight,  the  honor  of  victory,  by  send- 
ing out  his  Croats  next  morning  to  the  field ;  but  the 
sight  of  the  Swedish  army  drawn  up  in  order  of  battle 
immediately  dispersed  these  flying  bands,  and  Duke  Ber- 
nard, by  keeping  possession  of  the  field,  and  soon  after  by 
the  capture  of  Leipzig,  maintained  indisputably  his  claim 
to  the  title  of  victor. 

But  it  was  a  dear  conquest,  a  dearer  triumph !  It  was 
not  till  the  fury  of  the  conquest  was  over  that  the  full 
weight  of  the  loss  sustained  was  felt,  and  the  shout  of 
triumph  died  away  into  a  silent  gloom  of  despair.  He 
who  had  led  them  to  the  charge  returned  not  with  them; 
there  he  lay  upon  the  field  which  he  had  won,  mingled 
with  the  dead  bodies  of  the  common  crowd.  After  a 
long  and  almost  fruitless  search,  the  corpse  of  the  king 
was  discovered,  not  far  from  the  great  stone,  which,  for  a 
hundred  years  before  had  stood  between  Lutzen  and  the 
Canal,  and  which,  from  the  memorable  disaster  of  that 
day,  still  bears  the  name  of  the  Stone  of  the  Swede. 
Covered  with  blood  and  wounds  so  as  scarcely  to  be 
recognized,  trampled  beneath  the  horses'  hoofs,  stripped 
by  the  rude  hands  of  plunderers  of  his  ornaments  and 
clothes,  his  body  was  drawn  from  beneath  a  heap  of  dead, 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  267 

conveyed  to  Weissenfels,  and  there  delivered  up  to  the 
lamentations  of  his  soldiers  and  the  last  embraces  of  his 
queen.  The  first  tribute  had  been  paid  to  revenge,  and 
blood  had  atoned  for  the  blood  of  the  monarch ;  but  now 
affection  assumes  its  rights,  and  tears  of  grief  must  flow 
for  the  man.  The  universal  sorrow  absorbs  all  individual 
woes.  The  generals,  still  stupefied  by  the  unexpected 
blow,  stood  speechless  and  motionless  around  his  bier, 
and  no  one  trusted  himself  enough  to  contemplate  the  full 
extent  of  their  loss. 

The  Emperor,  we  are  told  by  Khevenhuller,  showed 
symptoms  of  deep  and  apparently  sincere  feeling  at  the 
sight  of  the  king's  doublet  stained  with  blood,  which  had 
been  stripped  from  him  during  the  battle,  and  carried  to 
Vienna.  "  Willingly,"  said  he,  "  would  I  have  granted 
to  the  unfortunate  prince  a  longer  life,  and  a  safe  return 
to  his  kingdom,  had  Germany  been  at  peace."  But  when 
a  trait,  which  is  nothing  more  than  a  proof  of  a  yet 
lingering  humanity,  and  which  a  mere  regard  to  appear- 
ances and  even  self-love  would  have  extorted  from  the 
most  insensible,  and  the  absence  of  which  could  exist  only 
in  the  most  inhuman  heart,  has,  by  a  Roman  Catholic 
writer  of  modern  times  and  acknowledged  merit,  been 
made  the  subject  of  the  highest  eulogium,  and,  compared 
with  the  magnanimous  tears  of  Alexander  for  the  fall  of 
Darius^  our  distrust  is  excited  of  the  other  virtues  of  the 
writer's  hero,  and  what  is  still  worse,  of  his  own  ideas  of 
moral  dignity.  But  even  such  praise,  whatever  its  amount, 
is  much  for  one  whose  memory  his  biographer  has  to  clear 
from  the  suspicion  of  being  privy  to  the  assassination  of  a 
king. 

It  was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  the  strong  leaning 
of  mankind  to  the  marvellous  would  leave  to  the  common 
course  of  nature  the  glory  of  ending  the  career  of  Gus- 
tavus  Adol phus.  The  death  of  so  formidable  a  rival  was 
too  important  an  event  for  the  Emperor  not  to  excite  in 
his  bitter  opponent  a  ready  suspicion  that  what  was  so 
much  to  his  interests  was  also  the  result  of  his  instiga- 
tion. For  the  execution,  however,  of  this  dark  deed  the 
Emperor  would  require  the  aid  of  a  foreign  arm,  and  this 
it  was  generally  believed  he  had  found  in  Francis  Albert, 


268  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

Duke  of  Saxe  Lauenburg.  The  rank  of  the  latter  per- 
mitted him  a  free  access  to  the  king's  person,  while  it  at 
the  same  time  seemed  to  place  him  above  the  suspicion 
of  so  foul  a  deed.  This  prince  however  was  in  fact  not 
incapable  of  this  atrocity,  and  he  had  moreover  sufficient 
motives  for  its  commission. 

Francis  Albert,  the  youngest  of  four  sons  of  Francis 
II.,  Duke  of  Lauenburg,  and  related  by  the  mother's  side 
to  the  race  of  Vasa,  had  in  his  early  years  found  a  most 
friendly  reception  at  the  Swedish  court.  Some  offence 
which  he  had  committed  against  Gustavus  Adolphus  in 
the  queen's  chamber  was,  it  is  said,  repaid  by  this  fiery 
youth  with  a  box  on  the  ear ;  which,  though  immediately 
repented  of,  and  amply  apologized  for,  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  an  irreconcilable  hate  in  the  vindictive  heart  of 
the  duke.  Francis  Albert  subsequently  entered  the  im- 
perial service,  where  he  rose  to  the  command  of  a  reg- 
iment, and  formed  a  close  intimacy  with  Wallenstein, 
and  condescended  to  be  the  instrument  of  a  secret  nego- 
tiation with  the  Saxon  court  which  did  little  honor  to 
his  rank.  Without  any  sufficient  cause  being  assigned, 
he  suddenly  quitted  the  Austrian  service,  and  appeared 
in  the  king's  camp  at  Nuremberg  to  offer  his  services  as 
a  volunteer.  By  his  show  of  zeal  for  the  Protestant 
cause,  and  prepossessing  and  flattering  deportment,  he 

§  lined  the  heart  of  the  king,  who,  warned  in  vain  by 
xenstiern,  continued  to  lavish  his  favor  and  friendship 
on  this  suspicious  newcomer.  The' battle  of  Lutzen  soon 
followed,  in  which  Francis  Albert,  like  an  evil  genius, 
kept  close  to  the  king's  side  and  did  not  leave  him  till  he 
fell.  He  owed,  it  was  thought,  his  own  safety  amidst  the 
fire  of  the  enemy  to  a  green  sash  which  he  wore,  the  color 
of  the  Imperialists.  He  was  at  any  rate  the  first  to  convey 
to  his  friend  Wallenstein  the  intelligence  of  the  king's 
death.  After  the  battle  he  exchanged  "the  Swedish  service 
for  the  Saxon  ;  and,  after  the  murder  of  Wallenstein,  being- 
charged  with  being  an  accomplice  of  that  general,  he  only 
escaped  the  sword  of  justice  by  abjuring  his  faith.  His 
last  appearance  in  life  was  as  commander  of  an  imperial 
army  in  Silesia,  where  he  died  of  the  wounds  he  had  re- 
ceived before  Schweidnitz.  It  requires  some  effort  to 


THE   THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  269 

• 

believe  in  the  innocence  of  a  man  who  had  run  through 
a  career  like  this  of  the  act  charged  against  him ;  but 
however  great  may  be  the  moral  and  physical  possibility 
of  his  committing  such  a  crime,  it  must  still  be  allowed 
that  there  are  no  certain  grounds  for  imputing  it  to  him. 
Gustavus  Adolphus  it  is  well  known  exposed  himself  to 
danger,  like  the  meanest  soldier  in  his  army,  and  where 
thousands  fell  he  too  might  naturally  meet  his  death. 
How  it  reached  him  remains  indeed  buried  in  mystery; 
but  here,  more  than  anywhere,  does  the  maxim  apply, 
that  where  the  ordinary  course  of  things  is  fully  sufficient 
to  account  for  the  fact  the  honor  of  human  nature  ought 
not  to  be  stained  by  any  suspicion  of  moral  atrocity. 

But  by  whatever  hand  he  fell  his  extraordinary  destiny 
must  appear  a  great  interposition  of  Providence.  History, 
too  often  confined  to  the  ungrateful  task  of  analyzing  the 
uniform  play  of  human  passions,  is  occasionally  rewarded 
by  the  appearance  of  events  which  strike,  like  a  hand 
from  heaven,  into  the  nicely  adjusted  machinery  of  hu- 
man plans,  and  carry  the  contemplative  mind  to  a  higher 
order  of  things.  Of  this  kind  is  the  sudden  retirement 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus  from  the  scene;  stopping  for  a 
time  the  whole  movement  of  the  political  machine,  and 
disappointing  all  the  calculations  of  human  prudence. 
Yesterday  the  very  soul,  the  great  and  animating  prin- 
ciple of  his  own  creation  ;  to-day  struck  unpitiably  to 
the  ground  in  the  very  midst  of  his  eagle  flight ;  untimely 
torn  from  a  whole  world  of  great  designs,  and  from  the 
ripening  harvest  of  his  expectations,  he  left  his  bereaved 
party  disconsolate;  and  the  proud  edifice  of  his  past 
greatness  sunk  into  ruins.  The  Protestant  party  had 
identified  its  hopes  with  its  invincible  leader,  and  scarcely 
can  it  now  separate  them  from  him  ;  with  him  they  now 
fear  all  good  fortune  is  buried.  But  it  was  no  longer  the 
benefactor  of  Germany  who  fell  at  Lutzen ;  the  beneficent 
part  of  his  career  Gustavus  Adolphus  had  already  termi- 
nated ;  and  now  the  greatest  service  which  he  could 
render  to  the  liberties  of  Germany  was  —  to  die.  The 
all-engrossing  power  of  an  individual  was  at  an  end,  but 
many  came  forward  to  essay  their  strength ;  the  equivo- 
cal assistance  of  an  over  powerful  protector  gave  place  to 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

a  more  noble  self-exertion  on  the  part  of  the  Estates ;  and 
those  who  were  formerly  the  mere  instruments  of  his 
aggrandizement,  now  began  to  work  for  themselves. 
They  now  looked  to  their  own  exertions  for  the  emanci- 
pation which  could  not  be  received  without  danger  from 
the  hand  of  the  mighty;  and  the  Swedish  power,  now 
incapable  of  sinking  into  the  oppressor,  was  henceforth 
restricted  to  the  more  modest  part  of  an  ally. 

The  ambition  of  the  Swedish  monarch  aspired  unques- 
tionably to  establish  a  power  within  Germany,  and  to 
attain  a  firm  footing  in  the  centre  of  the  empire,  which 
was  inconsistent  with  the  liberties  of  the  Estates.  His 
aim  was  the  imperial  crown ;  and  this  dignity,  supported 
by  his  power,  and  maintained  by  his  energy  and  activity, 
would  in  his  hands  be  liable  to  more  abuse  than  had 
ever  been  feared  from  the  House  of  Austria.  Born  in  a 
foreign  country,  educated  in  the  maxims  of  arbitrary 
power,  and  by  principles  and  enthusiasm  a  determined 
enemy  to  Popery,  he  was  ill-qualified  to  maintain  invio- 
late the  constitution  of  the  German  States  or  to  respect 
their  liberties.  The  coercive  homage  which  Augsburg, 
with  many  other  cities,  was  forced  to  pay  to  the  Swedish 
crown  bespoke  the  conqueror  rather  than  the  protector 
of  the  empire  ;  and  this  town,  prouder  of  the  title  of  a 
royal  city  than  of  the  higher  dignity  of  the  freedom 
of  the  empire,  flattered  itself  with  the  anticipation  of 
becoming  the  capital  of  his  future  kingdom.  His  ill- 
disguised  attempts  upon  the  Electorate  of  Mentz,  which 
he  first  intended  to  bestow  upon  the  Elector  of  Branden- 
burg as  the  dower  of  his  daughter  Christina,  and  after- 
wards destined  for  his  chancellor  and  friend,  Oxenstiern, 
evinced  plainly  what  liberties  he  was  disposed  to  take 
with  the  constitution  of  the  empire.  His  allies,  the  Prot- 
estant princes,  had  claims  on  his  gratitude  which  could 
be  satisfied  only  at  the  expense  of  their  Roman  Catholic 
neighbors,  and  particularly  of  the  immediate  Ecclesias- 
tical Chapters ;  and  it  seems  probable  a  plan  was  early 
formed  for  dividing  the  conquered  provinces  (after  the 
precedent  of  the  barbarian  hordes  who  overran  the  Ger- 
man empire),  as  a  common  spoil,  among  the  German  and 
Swedish  confederates.  In  his  treatment  of  the  Elector 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  271 

Palatine  he  entirely  belied  the  magnanimity  of  the  hero, 
and  forgot  the  sacred  character  of  a  protector.  The 
Palatinate  was  in  his  hands,  and  the  obligations  both  of 
justice  and  honor  demanded  its  full  and  immediate  resto- 
ration to  the  legitimate  sovereign.  But  by  a  subtlety 
unworthy  of  a  great  mind,  and  disgraceful  to  the  honor- 
able title  of  protector  of  the  oppressed,  he  eluded  that 
obligation.  He  treated  the  Palatinate  as  a  conquest 
wrested  from  the  enemy,  and  thought  that  this  circum- 
stance gave  him  a  right  to  deal  with  it  as  he  pleased.  He 
surrendered  it  to  the  Elector  as  a  favor,  not  as  a  debt; 
and  that,  too,  as  a  Swedish  fief,  fettered  by  conditions 
which  diminished  half  its  value,  and  degraded  this  unfor- 
tunate prince  into  an  humble  vassal  of  Sweden.  One  of 
these  conditions  obliged  the  Elector,  after  the  conclusion 
of  the  war,  to  furnish,  along  with  the  other  princes,  his 
contribution  towards  the  maintenance  of  the  Swedish 
army,  a  condition  which  plainly  indicates  the  fate  which, 
in  the  event  of  the  ultimate  success  of  the  king,  awaited 
Germany.  His  sudden  disappearance  secured  the  liber- 
ties of  Germany,  and  saved  his  reputation,  while  it  prob- 
ably spared  him  the  mortification  of  seeing  his  own  allies 
in  arms  against  him,  and  all  the  fruits  of  his  victories 
torn  from  him  by  a  disadvantageous  peace.  Saxony  was 
already  disposed  to  abandon  him,  Denmark  viewed  his 
success  with  alarm  and  jealousy ;  and  even  France,  the 
firmest  and  most  potent  of  his  allies,  terrified  at  the 
rapid  growth  of  his  power  and  the  imperious  tone  which 
he  assumed,  looked  around  at  the  very  moment  he  passed 
the  Lech  for  foreign  alliances,  in  order  to  check  the 
progress  of  the  Goths  and  restore  to  Europe  the  balance 
of  power. 


BOOK   IV. 


THE  weak  bond  of  union  by  which  Gustavus  Adolphus 
contrived  to  hold  together  the  Protestant  members  of 
the  empire  was  dissolved  by  his  death  ;  the  allies  were 
now  again  at  liberty,  and  their  alliance  to  last  must  be 


272  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

formed  anew.  By  the  former  event,  if  unremedied,  they 
would  lose  all  the  advantages  they  had  gained  at  the  cost 
of  so  much  bloodshed,  and  expose  themselves  to  the  inev- 
itable danger  of  becoming,  one  after  the  other,  the  prey 
of  an  enemy  whom,  by  their  union  alone,  they  had  been 
able  to  oppose  and  to  master.  Neither  Sweden  nor  any 
of  the  states  of  the  empire  was  singly  a  match  with  the 
Emperor  and  the  League ;  and,  by  seeking  a  peace  under 
the  present  state  of  things,  they  would  necessarily  be 
obliged  to  receive  laws  from  the  enemy.  Union  was, 
therefore,  equally  indispensable,  either  for  concluding  a 
peace  or  continuing  the  war.  But  a  peace  sought  under 
the  present  circumstances  could  not  fail  to  be  disadvan- 
tageous to  the  allied  powers.  With  the  death  of  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus  the  enemy  had  formed  new  hopes ;  and 
however  gloomy  might  be  the  situation  of  his  affairs 
after  the  battle  of  Lutzen,  still  the  death  of  his  dreaded 
rival  was  an  event  too  disastrous  to  the  allies,  and  too 
favorable  for  the  Emperor,  not  to  justify  him  in  enter- 
taining the  most  brilliant  expectations,  and  not  to  en- 
courage him  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  Its  inevitable 
consequence,  for  the  moment  at  least,  must  be  want  of 
union  among  the  allies,  and  what  might  not  the  Emperor 
and  the  League  gain  from  such  a  division  of  their  ene- 
mies ?  He  was  not  likely  to  sacrifice  such  prospects  as 
the  present  turn  of  affairs  held  out  to  him  for  any  peace 
not  highly  beneficial  to  himself ;  and  such  a  peace  the 
allies  would  not  be  disposed  to  accept.  They  natm-ally 
determined,  therefore,  to  continue  the  war,  and  for  this 
purpose  the  maintenance  of  the  existing  union  was  ac- 
knowledged to  be  indispensable. 

But  how  was  this  union  to  be  renewed ;  and  whence 
were  to  be  derived  the  necessary  means  for  continuing 
the  war?  It  was  not  the  power  of  Sweden,  but  the  talents 
and  personal  influence  of  its  late  king,  which  had  given 
him  so  overwhelming  an  influence  in  Germany,  so  great 
a  command  over  the  minds  of  men ;  and  even  he  had 
innumerable  difficulties  to  overcome  before  he  could  estab- 
lish among  the  states  even  a  weak  and  wavering  alliance. 
With  his  death  vanished  all  which  his  personal  qualities 
alone  had  rendered  practicable ;  and  the  mutual  obliga- 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  273 

tion  of  the  states  seemed  to  cease  with  the  hopes  on  which 
it  had  been  founded.  Several  impatiently  threw  off  the 
yoke  which  had  always  been  irksome ;  others  hastened  to 
seize  the  helm  which  they  had  unwillingly  seen  in  the 
hands  of  Gustavus,  but  which,  during  his  lifetime,  they 
did  not  dare  to  dispute  with  him.  Some  were  tempted 
by  the  seductive  promises  of  the  Emperor  to  abandon 
the  alliance ;  others,  oppressed  by  the  heavy  burdens  of 
a  fourteen  years'  war,  longed  for  the  repose  of  peace 
upon  any  conditions,  however  ruinous.  The  generals  of 
the  army,  partly  German  princes,  acknowledged  no  com- 
mon head,  and  no  one  would  stoop  to  receive  orders  from 
another.  Unanimity  vanished  alike  from  the  cabinet  and 
the  field,  and  their  common  weal  was  threatened  with  ruin 
by  the  spirit  of  disunion. 

Gustavus  had  left  no  male  heir  to  the  crown  of  Sweden ; 
his  daughter,  Christina,  then  six  years  old,  was  the  natural 
heir.  The  unavoidable  weakness  of  a  regency  suited  ill 
with  the  energy  and  resolution  which  Sweden  would  be 
called  upon  to  display  in  this  trying  conjuncture.  The 
wide-reaching  mind  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  had  raised  this 
unimportant  and  hitherto  unknown  kingdom  to  a  rank 
among  the  powers  of  Europe  which  it  could  not  retain 
without  the  fortune  and  genius  of  its  author,  and  from 
which  it  could  not  recede  without  a  humiliating  confession 
of  weakness.  Though  the  German  war  had  been  con- 
ducted chiefly  on  the  resources  of  Germany,  yet  even  the 
small  contribution  of  men  and  money  which  Sweden  fur- 
nished had  sufficed  to  exhaust  the  finances  of  that  poor 
kingdom,  and  the  peasantry  groaned  beneath  the  imposts 
necessarily  laid  upon  them.  The  plunder  gained  in  Ger- 
many enriched  only  a  few  individuals  among  the  nobles 
and  the  soldiers,  while  Sweden  itself  remained  poor  as 
before.  For  a  time,  it  is  true,  the  national  glory  recon- 
ciled the  subject  to  these  burdens,  and  the  sums  exacted 
seemed  but  as  a  loan  placed  at  interest  in  the  fortunate 
hand  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  to  be  richly  repaid  by  the 
grateful  monarch  at  the  conclusion  of  a  glorious  peace. 
But  with  the  king's  death  this  hope  vanished,  and  the 
deluded  people  now  loudly  demanded  relief  from  their 
burdens. 


274  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

But  the  spirit  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  still  lived  in  the 
men  to  whom  he  had  confided  the  administration  of 
the  kingdom.  However  dreadful  to  them  and  unexpected 
was  the  intelligence  of  his  death,  it  did  not  deprive  them 
of  their  manly  courage ;  and  the  spirit  of  ancient  Rome, 
under  the  invasion  of  Brennus  and  Hannibal,  animated 
this  noble  assembly.  The  greater  the  price  at  which 
these  hard-gained  advantages  had  been  purchased  the 
less  readily  could  they  reconcile  themselves  to  renounce 
them  ;  not  unrevenged  was  a  king  to  be  sacrified.  Called 
on  to  choose  between  a  doubtful  and  exhausting  war  and 
a  profitable  but  disgraceful  peace,  the  Swedish  council  of 
state  boldly  espoused  the  side  of  danger  arid  honor;  and 
with  agreeable  surprise  men  beheld  this  venerable  senate 
acting  with  all  the  energy  and  enthusiasm  of  youth.  Sur- 
rounded with  watchful  enemies,  both  within  and  without, 
and  threatened  on  every  side  with  danger,  they  armed 
themselves  against  them  all,  with  equal  prudence  and 
heroism,  and  labored  to  extend  their  kingdom,  even  at 
the  moment  when  they  had  to  struggle  for  its  existence. 

The  decease  of  the  king,  and  the  minority  of  his 
daughter  Christina,  renewed  the  claims  of  Poland  to  the 
Swedish  throne  ;  and  King  Ladislaus,  the  son  of  Sigis- 
mund,  spared  no  intrigues  to  gain  a  party  in  Sweden.  On 
this  ground  the  regency  lost  no  time  in  proclaiming  the 
young  queen  and  arranging  the  administration  of  the 
regency.  All  the  officers  of  the  kingdom  were  summoned 
to  do  homage  to  their  new  princess ;  all  correspondence 
with  Poland  prohibited,  and  the  edicts  of  previous 
monarchs  against  the  heirs  of  Sigismund  confirmed  by  a 
solemn  act  of  the  nation.  The  alliance  with  the  Czar  of 
Muscovy  was  carefully  renewed  in  order,  by  the  arms  of 
this  prince,  to  keep  the  hostile  Poles  in  check.  The  death 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus  had  put  an  end  to  the  jealousy  of 
Denmark,  and  removed  the  grounds  of  alarm  which  had 
stood  in  the  way  of  a  good  understanding  between  the 
two  states.  The  representations  by  which  the  enemy 
sought  to  stir  up  Christian  TV.  against  Sweden  were  no 
longer  listened  to ;  and  the  strong  wish  the  Danish 
monarch  entertained  for  the  marriage  of  his  son  Ulrick 
with  the  young  princess,  combined,  with  the  dictates  of  a 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  275 

sounder  policy,  to  incline  him  to  a  neutrality.  At  the 
same  time  England,  Holland,  and  France  came  forward 
with  the  gratifying  assurances  to  the  regency  of  continued 
friendship  and  support,  and  encouraged  them,  with  one 
voice,  to  prosecute  with  activity  the  war  which  hitherto 
had  been  conducted  with  so  much  glory.  Whatever 
reason  France  might  have  to  congratulate  itself  on  the 
death  of  the  Swedish  conqueror,  it  was  as  fully  sensible 
of  the  expediency  of  maintaining  the  alliance  with  Swe- 
den. Without  exposing  itself  to  great  danger  it  could 
not  allow  the  power  of  Sweden  to  sink  in  Germany. 
Want  of  resources  of  its  own  would  either  drive  Sweden 
to  conclude  a  hasty  and  disadvantageous  peace  with 
Austria,  and  then  all  the  past  efforts  to  lower  the  ascend- 
ancy of  this  dangerous  power  would  be  thrown  away; 
or  necessity  and  despair  would  drive  the  armies  to  extort 
from  the  Roman  Catholic  states  the  means  of  support, 
and  France  would  then  be  regarded  as  the  betrayer  of 
those  very  states  who  had  placed  themselves  under  her 
powerful  protection.  The  death  of  Gustavus,  far  from 
breaking  up  the  alliance  between  France  and  Sweden, 
had  only  rendered  it  more  necessary  for  both  and  more 
profitable  for  France.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  since  he 
was  dead  who  had  stretched  his  protecting  arm  over 
Germany,  and  guarded  its  frontiers  against  the  encroach- 
ing designs  of  France,  could  the  latter  safely  pursue  its 
designs  upon  Alsace,  and  thus  be  enabled  to  sell  its  aid  to 
the  German  Protestants  at  a  dearer  rate. 

Strengthened  by  these  alliances,  secured  in  its  interior, 
and  defended  from  without  by  strong  frontier  garrisons 
and  fleets,  the  regency  did  not  delay  an  instant  to  con- 
tinue a  war  by  which  Sweden  had  little  of  its  own  to 
lose,  while,  if  success  attended  its  arms,  one  or  more  of 
the  German  provinces  might  be  won,  either  as  a  conquest 
or  indemnification  of  its  expenses.  Secure  amidst  its 
seas,  Sweden,  even  if  driven  out  of  Germany,  would 
scarcely  be  exposed  to  greater  peril  than  if  it  voluntarily 
retired  from  the  contest,  while  the  former  measure  \vas 
as  honorable  as  the  latter  was  disgraceful.  The  more 
boldness  the  regency  displayed  the  more  confidence 
would  they  inspire  among  their  confederates,  the  more 


276  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAK. 

respect  among  their  enemies,  and  the  more  favorable  con- 
ditions might  they  anticipate  in  the  event  of  peace.  If 
they  found  themselves  too  weak  to  execute  the  wide- 
ranging  projects  of  Gustavus  they  at  least  owed  it  to 
this  lofty  model  to  do  their  utmost  and  to  yield  to  no 
difficulty  short  of  absolute  necessity.  Alas,  that  motives 
of  self-interest  had  too  great  a  share  in  this  noble  deter- 
mination to  demand  our  unqualified  admiration !  For 
those  who  had  nothing  themselves  to  suffer  from  the 
calamities  of  war,  but  were  rather  to  be  enriched  by  it, 
it  was  an  easy  matter  to  resolve  upon  its  continuation  ; 
for  the  German  empire  was,  in  the  end,  to  defray  the 
expenses ;  and  the  provinces  on  which  they  reckoned 
would  be  cheaply  purchased  with  the  few  troops  they 
sacrificed  to  them,  and  with  the  generals  who  were  placed 
at  the  head  of  armies,  composed  for  the  most  part  of 
Germans,  and  with  the  honorable  superintendence  of  all 
the  operations,  both  military  and  political. 

But  this  superintendence  was  irreconcilable  with  the 
distance  of  the  Swedish  regency  from  the  scene  of  action, 
and  with  the  slowness  which  necessarily  accompanies  all 
the  movements  of  a  council. 

To  one  comprehensive  mind  must  be  entrusted  the 
management  of  Swedish  interests  in  Germany,  and  with 
full  powers  to  determine  at  discretion  all  questions  of  war 
and  peace,  the  necessary  alliances,  or  the  acquisitions 
made.  With  dictatorial  power,  and  with  the  whole 
influence  of  the  crown  which  he  was  to  represent,  must 
this  important  magistrate  be  invested,  in  order  to  main- 
tain its  dignity,  to  enforce  united  and  combined  opera- 
tions, to  give  effect  to  his  orders,  and  to  supply  the  place 
of  the  monarch  whom  he  succeeded.  Such  a  man  was 
found  in  the  Chancellor  Oxenstiern,  the  first  minister, 
and,  what  is  more,  the  friend  of  the  deceased  king,  M  ho, 
acquainted  with  all  the  secrets  of  his  master,  versed  in 
the  politics  of  Germany,  and  in  the  relations  of  all  the 
states  of  Europe,  was  unquestionably  the  fittest  instru- 
ment to  carry  out  the  plans  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  in 
their  full  extent. 

Oxenstiern  was  on  his  way  to  Upper  Germany  in  order 
to  assemble  the  four  Upper  Circles  when  the  news  of  the 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAK.  277 

king's  death  reached  him  at  Hanau.  This  was  a  heavy 
blow,  both  to  the  friend  and  the  statesman.  Sweden, 
indeed,  had  lost  but  a  king,  Germany  a  protector;  but 
Oxenstiern,  the  author  of  his  fortunes,  the  friend  of  his 
soul,  and  the  object  of  his  admiration.  Though  the 
greatest  sufferer  in  the  general  loss,  he  was  the  first  who 
by  his  energy  rose  from  the  blow,  and  the  only  one  quali- 
fied to  repair  it.  His  penetrating  glance  foresaw  all  the 
obstacles  which  would  oppose  the  execution  of  his  plans, 
the  discouragements  of  the  estates,  the  intrigues  of  hos- 
tile courts,  the  breaking  up  of  the  confederacy,  the  jeal- 
ousy of  the  leaders,  and  the  dislike  of  princes  of  the 
empire  to  submit  to  foreign  authority.  But  even  this 
deep  insight  into  the  existing  state  of  things,  which 
revealed  the  whole  extent  of  the  evil,  showed  him  also 
the  means  by  which  it  might  be  overcome.  It  was  essen- 
tial to  revive  the  drooping  courage  of  the  weaker  states, 
to  meet  the  secret  machinations  of  the  enemy,  to  allay 
the  jealousy  of  the  more  powerful  allies,  to  rouse  the 
friendly  powers,  and  France  in  particular,  to  active 
assistance ;  but,  above  all,  to  repair  the  ruined  edifice  of 
the  German  alliance,  and  to  reunite  the  scattered  strength 
of  the  party  by  a  close  and  permanent  bond  of  union. 
The  dismay  which  the  loss  of  their  leader  occasioned  the 
German  Protestants  might  as  readily  dispose  them  to  a 
closer  alliance  with  Sweden  as  to  a  hasty  peace  with  the 
Emperor ;  and  it  depended  entirely  upon  the  course  pur- 
sued which  of  these  alternatives  they  would  adopt. 
Everything  might  be  lost  by  the  slightest  sign  of  despond- 
ency ;  nothing  but  the  confidence  which  Sweden  showed 
in  herself  could  kindle  among  the  Germans  a  noble  feel- 
ing of  self-confidence.  All  the  attempts  of  Austria  to 
detach  these  princes  from  the  Swedish  alliance  would  be 
unavailing  the  moment  their  eyes  became  opened  to  their 
true  interests,  and  they  were  instigated  to  a  public  and 
formal  breach  with  the  Emperor. 

Before  these  measures  could  be  taken,  and  the  neces- 
sary points  settled  between  the  regency  and  their  minis- 
ter, a  precious  opportunity  of  action  would,  it  is  true,  be 
lost  to  the  Swedish  army,  of  which  the  enemy  would 
be  sure  to  take  the  utmost  advantage.  It  was,  in  short, 


278  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

in  the  power  of  the  Emperor  totally  to  ruin  the  Swedish 
interest  in  Germany,  and  to  this  he  was  actually  invited 
by  the  prudent  councils  of  the  Duke  of  Friedland. 
Wallenstein  advised  him  to  proclaim  an  universal  am- 
nesty and  to  meet  the  Protestant  states  with  favorable 
conditions.  In  the  first  consternation  produced  by  the 
fall  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  such  a  declaration  would  have 
had  the  most  powerful  effects,  and  probably  would  have 
brought  the  wavering  states  back  to  their  allegiance. 
But  blinded  by  this  unexpected  turn  of  fortune,  and  in- 
fatuated by  the  Spanish  counsels,  he  anticipated  a  more 
brilliant  issue  from  war;  and  instead  of  listening  to  these 
propositions  of  an  accommodation  he  hastened  to  aug- 
ment his  forces.  Spain,  enriched  by  the  grant  of  the 
tenth  of  the  ecclesiastical  possessions,  which  the  Pope 
confirmed,  sent  him  considerable  supplies,  negotiated  for 
him  at  the  Saxon  court,  and  hastily  levied  troops  for  him 
in  Italy  to  be  employed  in  Germany.  The  Elector  of 
Bavaria  also  considerably  increased  his  military  force; 
and  the  restless  disposition  of  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  did 
not  permit  him  to  remain  inactive  in  this  favorable  change 
of  fortune.  But  while  the  enemy  were  thus  busy  to 
profit  by  the  disaster  of  Sweden  Oxenstiern  was  diligent 
to  avert  its  most  fatal  consequences. 

Less  apprehensive  of  open  enemies  than  of  the  jealousy 
of  the  friendly  powers,  he  left  LTpper  Germany,  which 
he  had  secured  by  conquests  and  alliances,  and  set  out 
in  person  to  prevent  a  total  defection  of  the  Lower  Ger- 
man states,  or,  what  would  have  been  almost  equally 
ruinous  to  Sweden,  a  private  alliance  among  themselves. 
Offended  at  the  boldness  with  which  the  chancellor 
assumed  the  direction  of  affairs,  arid  inwardly  exasper- 
ated at  the  thought  of  being  dictated  to  by  a  Swedish 
nobleman,  the  Elector  of  Saxony  again  meditated  a  dan- 
gerous separation  from  Sweden ;  and  the  only  question 
in  his  mind  was  whether  he  should  make  full  terms  with 
the  Emperor  or  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Prot- 
estants and  form  a  third  party  in  Germany.  Similar 
ideas  were  cherished  by  Duke  Illric  of  Brunswick,  who, 
indeed,  showed  them  openly  enough  by  forbidding  the 
Swedes  from  recruiting  within  his  dominions,  and  in- 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  279 

viting  the  Lower  Saxon  states  to  Luneburg  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a  confederacy  among  themselves. 
The  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  jealous  of  the  influence 
which  Saxony  was  likely  to  attain  in  Lower  Germany, 
alone  manifested  any  zeal  for  the  interests  of  the  Swedish 
throne,  which,  in  thought,  he  already  destined  for  his 
son.  At  the  court  of  Saxony  Oxenstiern  was  no  doubt 
honorably  received ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  personal 
efforts  Of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  empty  promises  of 
continued  friendship  were  all  which  he  could  obtain. 
With  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  he  was  more  successful, 
for  with  him  he  ventured  to  assume  a  bolder  tone.  Swe- 
den was  at  the  time  in  possession  of  the  see  of  Magde- 
burg, the  bishop  of  which  had  the  power  of  assembling 
the  Lower.  Saxon  circle.  The  chancellor*  now  asserted 
the  rights  of  the  crown,  and  by  this  spirited  proceeding 
put  a  stop  for  the  present  to  this  dangerous  assembly 
designed  by  the  duke.  The  main  object,  however,  of  his 
present  journey  and  of  his  future  endeavors,  a  general 
confederacy  of  the  Protestants,  miscarried  entirely,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  content  himself  with  some  unsteady 
alliances  in  the  Saxon  circles,  and  with  the  weaker  assist- 
ance of  Upper  Germany. 

As  the  Bavarians  were  too  powerful  on  the  Danube 
the  assembly  of  the  four  Upper  Circles,  which  should 
have  been  held  at  Ulm,  was  removed  to  Heilbronn,  where 
deputies  of  more  than  twelve  cities  of  the  empire,  with 
a  brilliant  crowd  of  doctors,  counts,  and  princes,  attended. 
The  ambassadors  of  foreign  powers,  likewise,  France, 
England,  and  Holland,  attended  this  congress,  at  which 
Oxenstiern  appeared  in  person  with  all  the  splendor  of 
the  crown  whose  representative  he  was.  He  himself 
opened  the  proceedings  and  conducted  the  deliberations. 
After  receiving  from  all  the  assembled  estates  assurances 
of  unshaken  fidelity,  perseverance,  and  unity,  he  required 
of  them  solemnly  and  formally  to  declare  the  Emperor 
and  the  League  as  enemies.  But  desirable  as  it  was  for 
Sweden  to  exasperate  the  ill-feeling  between  the  Emperor 
and  the  estates  into  a  formal  rupture,  the  latter,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  equally  indisposed  to  shut  out  the  possi- 
bility of  reconciliation  by  so  decided  a  step,  and  to  place 


280  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

themselves  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Swedes.  They 
maintained  that  any  formal  declaration  of  war  was  useless 
and  superfluous,  where  the  act  would  speak  for  itself, 
and  their  firmness  on  this  point  silenced  at  last  the  chan- 
cellor. Warmer  disputes  arose  on  the  third  and  principal 
article  of  the  treaty,  concerning  the  means  of  prosecuting 
the  war,  and  the  quota  which  the  several  states  ought  to 
furnish  for  the  support  of  the  army.  Oxenstiern's  maxim, 
to  throw  as  much  as  possible  of  the  common  "burden  on 
the  states,  did  not  suit  very  well  with  their  determination 
to  give  as  little  as  possible.  The  Swedish  chancellor 
now  experienced  Avhat  had  been  felt  by  thirty  emperors 
before  him  to  their  cost,  that  of  all  difficult  undertakings 
the  most  difficult  was  to  extort  money  from  the  Germans. 
Instead  of  granting  the  necessary  sums  for  the  new  armies 
to  be  raised,  they  eloquently  dwelt  upon  the  calamities 
occasioned  by  the  former,  and  demanded  relief  from  the 
old  burdens  when  they  were  required  to  submit  to  new. 
The  irritation  which  the  chancellor's  demand  for  money 
raised  among  the  states  gave  rise  to  a  thousand  com- 
plaints ;  and  the  outrages  committed  by  the  troops  in 
their  marches  and  quarters  were  dwelt  upon  with  a 
startling  minuteness  and  truth. 

In  the  service  of  two  absolute  monarchs  Oxenstiern 
had  but  little  opportunity  to  become  accustomed  to  the 
formalities  and  cautious  proceedings  of  republican  de- 
liberations, or  to  bear  opposition  with  patience.  Ready 
to  act  the  instant  the  necessity  of  action  was  apparent, 
and  inflexible  in  his  resolution  when  he  had  once  taken 
it,  he  was  at  a  loss  to  comprehend  the  inconsistency  of 
most  men,  who,  while  they  desire  the  end,  are  yet  averse 
to  the  means.  Prompt  and  impetuous  by  nature,  he  was 
so  on  this  occasion  from  principle ;  for  everything  de- 
pended on  concealing  the  weakness  of  Sweden  under  a 
firm  and  confident  speech,  and  by  assuming  the  tone  of  a 
lawgiver,  really  to  become  so.  It  was  nothing  wonderful, 
therefore,  if,  amidst  these  interminable  discussions  with 
German  doctors  and  deputies,  he  was  entirely  out  of  his 
sphere,  and  if  the  deliberateness  which  distinguishes  the 
character  of  the  Germans  in  their  public  deliberations 
had  driven  him  almost  to  despair.  Without  respecting  a 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  281 

custom,  to  which  even  the  most  powerful  of  the  emperors 
had  been  obliged  to  conform,  he  rejected  all  written  de- 
liberations, which  suited  so  well  with  the  national  slow- 
ness of  resolve.  He  could  not  conceive  how  ten  days 
could  be  spent  in  debating  a  measure  which  with  him- 
self was  decided  upon  its  bare  suggestion.  Harshly, 
however,  as  he  treated  the  states  he  found  them  ready 
enough  to  assent  to  his  fourth  motion,  which  concerned 
himself.  When  he  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  giving  a 
director  to  the  new  confederation  that  honor  was  un- 
animously assigned  to  Sweden,  and  he  himself  was 
humbly  requested  to  give  to  the  common  cause  the  bene- 
fit of  his  enlightened  experience,  and  to  take  upon  him- 
self the  burden  of  the  supreme  command.  But  in  order 
to  prevent  his  abusing  the  great  powers  thus  conferred 
upon  him  it  was  proposed,  not  without  French  influence, 
to  appoint  a  number  of  overseers,  in  fact,  under  the  name 
of  assistants,  to  control  the  expenditure  of  the  common 
treasure  and  to  consult  with  him  as  to  the  levies, 
marches,  and  quarterings  of  the  troops.  Oxenstiern 
long  and  strenuously  resisted  this  limitation  of  his  au- 
thority, which  could  not  fail  to  trammel  him  in  the  exe- 
cution of  every  enterprise  requiring  promptitude  or 
secrecy,  and  at  last  succeeded,  with  difficulty,  in  obtain- 
ing so  far  a  modification  of  it  that  his  management  in 
affairs  of  war  was  to  be  uncontrolled.  The  chancellor 
finally  approached  the  delicate  point  of  the  indemnifica- 
tion which  Sweden  was  to  expect  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
war  from  the  gratitude  of  the  allies,  and  flattered  him- 
self with  the  hope  that  Pomerania,  the  main  object  of 
Sweden, -would  be  assigned  to  her,  and  that  he  would 
obtain  from  the  provinces  assurances  of  effectual  co- 
operation in  its  acquisition.  But  he  could  obtain  nothing 
more  than  a  vague  assurance  that  in  a  general  peace  the 
interests  of  all  parties  would  be  attended  to.  That  on- 
this  point  the  caution  of  the  estates  was  not  owing  to  any 
regard  for  the  constitution  of  the  empire  became  mani- 
fest from  the  liberality  they  evinced  towards  the  chan- 
cellor at  the  expense  of  the  most  sacred  laws  of  the 
empire.  They  were  ready  to  grant  him  the  archbishopric 
of  Mentz  (which  he  already  held  as  a  conquest),  and  only 


282  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

with  difficulty  did  the  French  ambassador  succeed  in 
preventing  a  step  which  was  as  impolitic  as  it  was  dis- 
graceful. Though,  on  the  whole,  the  result  of  the  con- 
gress had  fallen  far  short  of  Oxenstiern's.  expectations, 
he  had  at  least  gained  for  himself  and  his  crown  his 
main  object,  namely,  the  direction  of  the  whole  con- 
federacy ;  he  had  also  succeeded  in  strengthening  the 
bond  of  union  between  the  four  upper  circles,  and  ob- 
tained from  the  states  a  yearly  contribution  of  two  mil- 
lions and  a  half  of  dollars  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
army. 

These  concessions  on  the  part  of  the  States  demanded 
some  return  from  Sweden.  A  few  weeks  after  the  death 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus  sorrow  ended  the  days  of  the 
unfortunate  Elector  Palatine.  For  eight  months  he  had 
swelled  the  pomp  of  his  protector's  court  and  expended 
on  it  the  small  remainder  of  his  patrimony.  He  was  at 
last  approaching  the  goal  of  his  wishes,  and  the  pros- 
pect of  a  brighter  future  was  opening  when  death 
deprived  him  of  his  protector.  But  what  he  regarded  as 
the  greatest  calamity  was  highly  favorable  to  his  heirs. 
Gustavus  might  venture  to  delay  the  restoration  of  his 
dominions  or  to  load  the  gift  with  hard  conditions;  but 
Oxenstiern,  to  whom  the  friendship  of  England,  Holland, 
and  Brandenburg,  and  the  good  opinion  of  the  Reformed 
States  were  indispensable,  felt  the  necessity  of  immedi- 
ately fulfilling  the  obligations  of  justice.  At  this  assem- 
bly at  Heilbronn,  therefore,  he  engaged  to  surrender  to 
Frederick's  heirs  the  whole  Palatinate,  both  the  part 
already  conquered,  and  that  which  remained  to  be  con- 
quered, with  the  exception  of  Manheim,  which  the 
Swedes  were  to  hold  until  they  should  be  indemnified 
for  their  expenses.  The  chancellor  did  not  confine  his 
liberality  to  the  family  of  the  Palatine  alone ;  the  other 
allied  princes  received  proofs,  though  at  a  later  period, 
of  the  gratitude  of  Sweden,  which,  however,  she  dis- 
pensed at  little  cost  to  herself. 

Impartiality,  the  most  sacred  obligation  of  the  histo- 
rian, here  compels  us  to  an  admission  not  much  to  the 
honor  of  the  champions  of  German  liberty.  However 
the  Protestant  princes  might  boast  of  the  justice  of  their 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAB.  '    283 

cause,  and  the  sincerity  of  their  conviction,  still  the 
motives  from  which  they  acted  were  selfish  enough  ;  and 
the  desire  of  stripping  others  of  their  possessions  had  at 
least  as  great  a  share  in  the  commencement  of  hostilities 
ns  the  fear  of  being  deprived  of  their  own.  Gustavus 
soon  found  that  he  might  reckon  much  more  on  these 
selfish  motives  than  on  their  patriotic  zeal,  and  did  not 
fail  to  avail  himself  of  them.  Each  of  his  confederates 
received  from  him  the  promise  of  some  possession,  either 
already  wrested  or  to  be  afterwards  taken  from  the 
enemy;  and  death  alone  prevented  him  from  fulfilling 
these  engagements.  What  prudence  had  suggested  to 
the  king  necessity  now  prescribed  to  his  successor.  If 
it  was  his  object  to  continue  the  war  he  must  be  ready 
to  divide  the  spoil  among  the  allies,  and  promise  them 
advantages  from  the  confusion  which  it  was  his  object 
to  continue.  Thus  he  promised  to  the  Landgrave  of 
Hesse  the  abbacies  of  Paderborn,  Corvey,  Munster,  and 
Fulda ;  to  Duke  Bernard  of  Weimar  the  Franconian 
bishoprics ;  to  the  Duke  of  Wirtemberg  the  Ecclesias- 
tical domains,  and  the  Austrian  countries  lying  within 
his  territories,  all  under  the  title  of  fiefs  of  Sweden. 
This  spectacle,  so  strange  and  so  dishonorable  to  the 
German  character,  surprised  the  chancellor,  who  found 
it  difficult  to  repress  his  contempt,  and  on  one  occasion 
exclaimed,  "  Let  it  be  writ  in  our  records  for  an  ever- 
lasting memorial  that  a  German  prince  made  such  a 
request  of  a  Swedish  nobleman,  and  that  the  Swedish 
nobleman  granted  it  to  the  German  upon  German 
ground !  " 

After  these  successful  measures  he  was  in  a  condition 
to  take  the  field  and  prosecute  the  war  with  fresh  vigor. 
Soon  after  the  victory  at  Lutzen  the  troops  of  Saxony 
and  Lunenburg  united  with  the  Swedish  main  body  ;  and 
the  Imperialists  were  in  a  short  time  totally  driven  from 
Saxony.  The  united  army  again  divided  ;  the  Saxons 
marched  towards  Lusatiaand  Silesia,  to  act  in  conjunction 
with  Count  Thurn  against  the  Austrians  in  that  quarter ; 
a  part  of  the  Swedish  army  was  led  by  the  Duke  of 
Weimar  into  Franconia,  and  the  other  by  George,  Duke 
of  Brunswick,  into  Westphalia  and  Lower  Saxony. 


284  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

The  conquests  on  the  Lech  and  the  Danube  during 
Gustavus'  expedition  into  Saxony  had  been  maintained 
by  the  Palatine  of  Birkenfeld  and  the  Swedish  General 
Banner  against  the  Bavarians ;  but,  unable  to  hold  their 
ground  against  the  victorious  progress  of  the  latter, 
supported  as  they  were  by  the  bravery  and  military  expe- 
rience of  the  Imperial  General  Altringer,  they  were  under 
the  necessity  of  summoning  the  Swedish  General  Horn 
to  their  assistance  from  Alsace.  This  experienced  general 
having  captured  the  towns  of  Benfeld,  Schlettstadt,  Col- 
mar,  and  Hagenau,  committed  the  defence  of  them  to  the 
Rhinegrave  Otto  Louis,  and  hastily  crossed  the  Rhine  to 
form  a  junction  with  Banner's  army.  But  although 
the  combined  force  amounted  to  more  than  sixteen  thou- 
sand they  could  not  prevent  the  enemy  from  obtaining  a 
strong  position  on  the  Swabian  frontier,  taking  I^empten, 
and  being  joined  by  seven  regiments  from  Bohemia.  In 
order  to  retain  the  command  of  the  important  banks  of 
the  Lech  and  the  Danube  they  were  under  the  necessity 
of  recalling  the  Rhiuegrave  Otto  Louis  from  Alsace, 
where  he  had,  after  the  departure  of  Horn,  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  defend  himself  against  the  exasperated  peasantry. 
With  his  army  he  was  now  summoned  to  strengthen  the 
army  on  the  Danube,  and  as  even  this  reinforcement  was 
insufficient,  Duke  Bernard  of  Weimar  was  earnestly 
pressed  to  turn  his  arms  into  this  quarter. 

Duke  Bernard,  soon  after  the  opening  of  the  campaign 
of  1633,  had  made  himself  master  of  the  town  and  terri- 
tory of  Barnberg,  and  was  now  threatening  Wurtzburg. 
But  on  receiving  the  summons  of  General  Horn  without 
delay  he  began  his  march  towards  the  Danube,  defeated 
on  his  way  a  Bavarian  army  under  John  de  Werth,  and 
joined  the  Swedes  near  Donauwerth.  This  numerous 
force,  commanded  by  excellent  generals,  now  threatened 
Bavaria  with  a  fearful  inroad.  The  Bishopric  of  Eich- 
stadt  was  completely  overrun,  and  Ingoldstadt  was  on 
the  point  of  being  delivered  up  by  treachery  to  the 
Swedes.  Altringer,  fettered  in  his  movements  by  the 
express  order  of  the  Duke  of  Friedland,  and  left  without 
assistance  from  Bohemia,  was  unable  to  check  the  pro- 
gress of  the  enemy.  The  most  favorable  circumstances 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  285 

combined  to  further  the  progress  of  the  Swedish  arms  in 
this  quarter,  when  the  operations  of  the  army  were  at 
once  stopped  by  a  mutiny  among  the  officers. 

All  the  previous  successes  in  Germany  were  owing 
altogether  to  arms  ;  the  greatness  of  Gustavus  himself  was 
the  work  of  the  army,  the  fruit  of  their  discipline,  their 
bravery,  and  their  persevering  courage  under  numberless 
dangers  and  privations.  However  wisely  his  plans  were 
laid  in  the  cabinet  it  was  to  the  army  ultimately  that  he 
was  indebted  for  their  execution  ;  and  the  expanding 
designs  of  the  general  did  but  continually  impose  new 
burdens  on  the  soldiers.  All  the  decisive  advantages  of 
the  war  had  been  violently  gained  by  a  barbarous  sacrifice 
of  the  soldiers'  lives  in  winter  campaigns,  forced  marches, 
storrnings,  and  pitched  battles,  for  it  was  Gustavus' 
maxim  -never  to  decline  a  battle  so  long  as  it  cost  him 
nothing  but  men.  The  soldiers  could  not  long  be  kept 
ignorant  of  •  their  own  importance,  and  they  justly 
demanded  a  share  in  the  spoil  which  had  been  won  by 
their  own  blood.  Yet,  frequently  they  hardly  received  their 
pay,  and  the  rapacity  of  individual  generals  or  the  wants 
of  the  state  generally  swallowed  up  the  greater  part  of 
the  sums  raised  by  contributions  or  levied  upon  the  con- 
quered provinces.  For  all  the  privations  he  endured  the 
soldier  had  no  other  recompense  than  the  doubtful  chance 
either  of  plunder  or  promotion,  in  both  of  which  he  was 
often  disappointed.  During  the  lifetime  of  Gustavus  Adol- 
phtis  the  combined  influence  of  fear  and  hope  had  sup- 
pressed any  open  complaint,  but  after  his  death  the 
murmurs  were  loud  and  universal,  and  the  soldiery  seized 
the  most  dangerous  moment  to  impress  their  superiors  with 
a  sense  of  their  importance.  Two  officers,  Pf uhl  and  Mits- 
chefal,  notorious  as  restless  characters  even  during  the 
king's  life,  set  the  example  in  the  camp  on  the  Danube, 
which  in  a  few  days  was  imitated  by  almost  all  the  officers 
of  the  army.  They  solemnly  bound  themselves  to  obey  no 
orders  till  these  arrears,  now  outstanding  for  months,  and 
even  years,  should  be  paid  up,  and  a  gratuity,  either  in 
money  or  lands,  made  to  each  man  according  to  his  ser- 
vices. "Immense  sums,"  they  said,  "  were  daily  raised 
by  contributions  and  all  dissipated  by  a  few.  They  were 


286  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

called  out  to  serve  amidst  frost  and  snow  and  no  reward 
requited  their  incessant  labors.  The  soldiers'  excesses  at 
Heilbronn  had  been  blamed,  but  no  one  ever  talked  of 
their  services.  The  world  rung  with  the  tidings  of  con- 
quests and  victories,  but  it  was  by  their  hands  that  they 
had  been  fought  and  won." 

The  number  of  the  malcontents  daily  increased,  and 
they  even  attempted  by  letters  (which  were  fortunately 
intercepted)  to  seduce  the  armies  on  the  Rhine  and  in 
Saxony.  Neither  the  representations  of  Bernard  of 
Weimar  nor  the  stern  reproaches  of  his  harsher  associate 
in  command  could  suppress  the  mutiny,  while  the  vehe- 
mence of  Horn  seemed  only  to  increase  the  insolence  of 
the  insurgents.  The  conditions  they  insisted  on  were  that 
certain  towns  should  be  assigned  to  each  regiment  for  the 
payment  of  arrears.  Four  weeks  were  allowed  to  the 
Swedish  chancellor  to  comply  with  these  demands  ;  and 
in  case  of  refusal  they  announced  that  they  would  pay 
themselves,  and  never  more  draw  a  sword  for  Sweden. 

These  pressing  demands  made  at  the  very  time  when 
the  military  chest  was  exhausted,  and  credit  at  a  low  ebb, 
greatly  embarassed  the  chancellor.  The  remedy  he  saw 
must  be  found  quickly  before  the  contagion  should  spread 
to  the  other  troops,  and  he  should  be  deserted  by  all  his 
armies  at  once.  Among  all  the  Swedish  generals  there 
was  only  one  of  sufficient  authority  and  influence  with 
the  soldiers  to  put  an  end  to  this  dispute.  The  Duke  of 
Weimar  was  the  favorite  of  the  army,  and  his  prudent 
moderation  had  won  the  good-will  of  the  soldiers,  while 
his  military  experience  had  excited  their  admiration.  He 
now  undertook  the  task  of  appeasing  the  discontented 
troops ;  but,  aware  of  his  importance,  he  embraced  the 
opportunity  to  make  advantageous  stipulations  for  him- 
self, and  to  make  the  embarassment  of  the  chancellor 
subservient  to  his  own  views. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  had  flattered  him  with  the  promise 
of  the  Duchy  of  Franconia,  to  be  formed  out  of  the  Bishop- 
rics of  Wurtzburg  and  Bamberg,  and  he  now  insisted  on 
the  performance  of  this  pledge.  He  at  the  same  time 
demanded  the  chief  command  as  generalissimo  of  Sweden. 
The  abuse  which  the  Duke  of  Weimar  thus  made  of  his 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  287 

influence  so  irritated  Oxenstiern  that,  in  the  first  mo- 
ment of  his  displeasure,  he  gave  him  his  dismissal  from  the 
Swedish  service.  But  he  soon  thought  better  of  it,  and 
determined,  instead  of  sacrificing  so  important  a  leader, 
to  attach  him  to  the  Swedish  interests  at  any  cost.  He 
therefore  granted  to  him  the  Franconian  bishoprics  as  a 
fief  of  the  Swedish  crown,  reserving,  however,  the  two 
fortresses  of  Wurtzburg  and  Konigshofen,  which  were  to 
be  garrisoned  by  the  Swedes;  and  also  engaged  in  name 
of  the  Swedish  crown  to  secure  these  territories  to  the 
duke.  His  demand  of  the  supreme  authority  was  evaded 
on  some  specious  pretext.  The  duke  did  not  delay  to 
display  his  gratitude  for  this  valuable  grant,  and  by  his 
influence  and  activity  soon  restored  tranquillity  to  the 
army.  Large  sums  of  money,  and  still  more  extensive 
estates,  were  divided  among  the  officers,  amounting  in 
value  to  about  five  millions  of  dollars,  and  to  which  they 
had  no  other  right  but  that  of  conquest.  In  the  mean- 
time, however,  the  opportunity  for  a  great  undertaking 
had  been  lost,  and  the  united  generals  divided  their  forces 
to  oppose  the  enemy  in  other  quarters. 

Gustavus  Horn,  after  a  short  inroad  into  the  Upper 
Palatinate  and  the  capture  of  Neurnark,  directed  his 
march  towards  the  Swabian  frontier,  where  the  Imperi- 
alists, strongly  reinforced,  threatened  Wurtemberg.  At 
his  approach  the  enemy  retired  to  the  Lake  of  Constance, 
but  only  to  show  the  Swedes  the  road  into  a  district 
hitherto  un visited  by  war.  A  post  on  the  entrance  to 
Switzerland  would  be  highly  serviceable  to  the  Swedes, 
and  the  town  of  Kostnitz  seemed  peculiarly  well-fitted  to 
be  a  point  of  communication  between  him  and  the  con- 
federated cantons.  Accordingly  Gustavus  Horn  immedi- 
ately commenced  the  siege  of  it ;  but  destitute  of  artillery, 
for  which  he  was  obliged  to  send  to  Wirtemberg,  he  could 
not  press  the  attack  with  sufficient  vigor  to  prevent  the 
enemy  from  throwing  supplies  into  the  town,  which  the 
lake  afforded  them  convenient  opportunity  of  doing. 
He  therefore,  after  an  ineffectual  attempt,  quitted  the 
place  and  its  neighborhood  and  hastened  to  meet  a  more 
threatening  danger  upon  the  Danube. 

At  the  Emperor's  instigation  the  Cardinal  Infante,  the 


288  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

brother  of  Philip  IV.  of  Spain,  and  the  Viceroy  of  Milan, 
had  raised  an  army  of  fourteen  thousand  men,  intended 
to  act  upon  the  Rhine  independently  of  Wallenstein,  and 
to  protect  Alsace.  This  force  now  appeared  in  Bavaria, 
under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Feria,  a  Spaniard ; 
and  that  they  might  be  directly  employed  against  the 
Swedes  Altringer  was  ordered  to  join  them  with  his 
corps.  Upon  the  first  intelligence  of  their  approach 
Horn  had  summoned  to  his  assistance  the  Palsgrave  of 
Birkenfeld  from  the  Rhine ;  and,  being  joined  by  him 
at  Stockach,  boldly  advanced  to  meet  the  enemy's  army 
of  thirty  thousand  men. 

The  latter  had  taken  the  route  across  the  Danube  into 
Swabia,  where  Gustavus  Horn  came  so  close  upon  them 
that  the  two  armies  were  only  separated  from  each  other 
by  half  a  German  mile.  But  instead  of  accepting  the  offer 
of  battle  the  Imperialists  moved  by  the  Forest  towns 
towards  Briesgau  and  Alsace,  where  they  arrived  in  time 
to  relieve  Breysack  and  to  arrest  the  victorious  progress 
of  the  Rhinegrave,  Otto  Louis.  The  latter  had  shortly 
before  taken  the  Forest  towns,  and,  supported  by  the 
Palatine  of  Birkenfeld,  who  had  liberated  the  Lower 
Palatinate  and  beaten  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  out  of  the 
field,  had  once  more  given  the  superiority  to  the  Swedish 
arms  in  that  quarter.  He  was  now  forced  to  retire 
before  the  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy;  but  Horn  and 
Birkenfeld  quickly  advanced  to  his  support,  and  the 
Imperialists  after  a  brief  triumph  were  again  expelled 
from  Alsace.  The  severity  of  the  autumn  in  which  this 
hapless  retreat  had  to  be  conducted  proved  fatal  to  most 
of  the  Italians ;  and  their  leader,  the  Duke  of  Feria,  died 
of  grief  at  the  failure  of  his  enterprise. 

In  the  meantime  Duke  Bernard  of  Weimar  had  taken 
up  his  position  on  the  Danube,  with  eighteen  regiments 
of  infantry  and  one  hundred  and  forty  squadrons  of 
horse,  to  cover  Franconia  and  to  watch  the  movements 
of  the  Imperial-Bavarian  army  upon  that  river.  No 
sooner  had  Altringer  departed  to  join  the  Italians  under 
Feria  than  Bernard,  profiting  by  his  absence,  hastened 
across  the  Danube,  and  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning 
appeared  before  Ratisbon.  The  possession  of  this  town 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  289 

would  insure  the  success  of  the  Swedish  designs  upon 
Bavaria  and  Austria;  it  would  establish  them  firmly  on 
the  Danube,  and  provide  a  safe  refuge  in  case  of  defeat, 
while  it  alone  could  give  permanence  to  their  conquests 
in  that  quarter.  To  defend  Ratisbon  was  the  urgent 
advice  which  the  dying  Tilly  left  to  the  Elector;  and 
Gustavus  Adolphus  had  lamented  it  as  an  irreparable 
loss  that  the  Bavarians  had  anticipated  him  in  taking 
possession  of  this  place.  Indescribable,  therefore,  was 
the  consternation  of  Maximilian  when  Duke  Bernard 
suddenly  appeared  before  the  town  and  prepared  in 
earnest  to  besiege  it. 

The  garrison  consisted  of  not  more  than  fifteen  com- 
panies, mostly  newly-raised  soldiers ;  although  that  num- 
ber was  more  than  sufficient  to  weary  out  an  enemy  of 
far  superior  force  if  supported  by  well-disposed  and 
warlike  inhabitants.  But  this  was  not  the  greatest  dan- 
ger which  the  Bavarian  garrison 'had  to  contend  against. 
The  Protestant  inhabitants  of  Ratisbon,  equally  jealous 
of  their  civil  and  religious  freedom,  had  unwillingly  sub- 
mitted to  the  yoke  of  Bavaria,  and  had  long  looked  with 
impatience  for  the  appearance  of  a  deliverer.  Bernard's 
arrival  before  the  walls  filled  them  with  lively  joy,  and 
there  was  much  reason  to  fear  that  they  would  support 
the  attempts  of  the  besiegers  without  by  exciting  a  tumult 
within.  In  this  perplexity  the  Elector  addressed  the 
most  pressing  entreaties  to  the  Emperor  and  the  Duke  of 
Friedland  to  assist  him,  were  it  only  with  five  thousand 
men.  Seven  messengers  in  succession  were  despatched 
by  Ferdinand  to  Wallenstein,  who  promised  immediate 
succors,  and  even  announced  to  the  Elector  the  near 
advance  of  twelve  thousand  men  under  Gallas,  but  at 
the  same  time  forbade  that  general,  under  pain  of  death, 
to  march.  Meanwhile  the  Bavarian  commandant  of  Rat- 
isbon, in  the  hope  of  speedy  assistance,  made  the  best 
preparations  for  defence,  armed  the  Roman  Catholic 
peasants,  disarmed  and  carefully  watched  the  Protestant 
citizens  lest  they  should  attempt  any  hostile  design 
against  the  garrison.  But  as  no  relief  arrived,  and  the 
enemy's  artillery  incessantly  battered  the  walls,  he  con- 
sulted his  own  safety  and  that  of  the  garrison  by  an  hon- 


290  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

onible  capitulation,  and  abandoned  the  Bavarian  officials 
and  ecclesiastics  to  the  conqueror's  mercy. 

The  possession  of  Ratisbon  enlarged  the  projects  of 
the  duke,  and  Bavaria  itself  now  appeared  too  narrow  a 
field  for  his  bold  designs.  He  determined  to  penetrate 
to  the  frontiers  of  Austria,  to  arm  the  Protestant  peas- 
antry against  the  Emperor,  and  restore  to  them  their 
religious  liberty.  He  had  already  taken  Straubingen, 
while  another  Swedish  army  was  advancing  successfully 
along  the  northern  bank  of  the  Danube.  At  the  head  of 
his  Swedes,  bidding  defiance  to  the  severity  of  the 
weather,  he  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Iser,  which  he 
passed  in  the  presence  of  the  Bavarian  General  Werth, 
who  was  encamped  on  that  river.  Passau  and  Lintz 
trembled  for  their  fate ;  the  terrified  Emperor  redoubled 
his  entreaties  and  commands  to  Wallenstein  to  hasten 
with  all  speed  to  the  relief  of  the  hard-pressed  Bavarians. 
But  here  the  victorious  Bernard  of  his  own  accord 
checked  his  career  of  conquest.  Having  in  front  of  him 
the  river  Inn,  guarded  by  a  number  of  strong  fortresses, 
and  behind  him  two  hostile  armies,  a  disaffected  country, 
and  the  river  Iser,  while  his  rear  was  covered  by  no  ten- 
able position,  and  no  intrenchment  could  be  made  in  the 
frozen  ground ;  and  threatened  by  the  whole  force  of 
Wallenstein,  who  had  at  last  resolved  to  march  to  the 
Danube,  by  a  timely  retreat  he  escaped  the  danger  of 
being  cut  off  from  Ratisbon  and  surrounded  by  the 
enemy.  He  hastened  across  the  Iser  to  the  Danube  to 
defend  the  conquests  he  had  made  in  the  Upper  Palatin- 
ate against  Wallenstein,  and  fully  resolved  not  to  decline 
a  battle,  if  necessary,  with  that  general.  But  Wallen- 
stein, who  was  not  disposed  for  any  great  exploits  on  the 
Danube,  did  not  wait  for  his  approach,  and  before  the 
Bavarians  could  congratulate  themselves  on  his  arrival 
he  suddenly  withdrew  again  into  Bohemia.  The  duke 
thus  ended  his  victorious  campaign,  and  allowed  his 
troops  their  well-earned  repose  in  winter  quarters  upon 
an  enemy's  country. 

While  in  Swabia  the  war  was  thus  successfully  con- 
ducted by  Gustavus  Horn,  and  on  the  Upper  and  Lower 
Rhine  by  the  Palatine  of  Birkenfeld,  General  Baudissen, 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  291 

and  the  Rhinegrave,  Otto  Louis,  and  by  Duke  Bernard  on 
the  Danube,  the  reputation  of  the  Swedish  arms  was  as 
gloriously  sustained  in  Lower  Saxony  and  Westphalia  by 
the  Duke  of  Lunenburg  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cas- 
sel.  The  fortress  of  Harael  was  taken  by  Duke  George, 
after  a  brave  defence,  and  a  brilliant  victory  obtained  over 
the  imperial  General  Gronsfeld  by  the  united  Swedish 
and  Hessian  armies  near  Oldendorf.  Count  Wasaburg, 
a  natural  son  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  showed  himself  in 
this  battle  worthy  of  his  descent.  Sixteen  pieces  of  can- 
non, the  whole  baggage  of  the  Imperialists,  together  with 
seventy-four  colors,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes ; 
three  thousand  of  the  enemy  perished  on  the  field,  and 
nearly  the  same  number  were  taken  prisoners.  The  town 
of  Osnaburg  surrendered  to  the  Swedish  Colonel  Knyp- 
hausen,  and  Paderborn  to  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  Biickeburg,  a  very  important  place  for 
the  Swedes,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Imperialists.  The 
Swedish  banners  were  victorious  in  almost  every  quarter 
of  Germany;  and  the  year  after  the  death  of  Gustavus 
left  no  trace  of  the  loss  which  had  been  sustained  in  the 
person  of  that  great  leader. 

In  a  review  of  the  important  events  which  signalized 
the  campaign  of  1633  the  inactivity  of  a  man  of  whom 
the  highest  expectations  had  been  formed  justly  excites 
astonishment.  Among  all  the  generals  who  distinguished 
themselves  in  this  campaign  none  could  be  compared 
with  Wallenstein  in  experience,  talents,  and  reputation ; 
and  yet  after  the  battle  of  Lutzen  we  lose  sight  of  him 
entirely.  The  fall  of  his  great  rival  had  left  the  whole 
theatre  of  glory  open  to  him  ;  all  Europe  was  now  atten- 
tively awaiting  those  exploits  which  should  efface  the 
remembrance  of  his  defeat  and  still  prove  to  the  world 
his  military  superiority.  Nevertheless,  he  continued  inac- 
tive in  Bohemia,  while  the  Emperor's  losses  in  Bavaria, 
Lower  Saxony,  and  the  Rhine  pressingly  called  for  his 
presence  —  a  conduct  equally  unintelligible  to  friend  and 
foe  —  the  terror,  and  at  the  same  time  the  last  hope  of 
the  Emperor.  After  the  defeat  of  Lutzen  he  had  hastened 
into  Bohemia,  where  he  instituted  the  strictest  inquiry 
into  the  conduct  of  his  officers  in  that  battle.  Those  whom 


292  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*    WAR. 

the  council  of  war  declared  guilty  of  misconduct  were 
put  to  death  without  mercy,  those  who  had  behaved  with 
bravery  rewarded  with  princely  munificence,  and  the 
memory  of  the  dead  honored  by  splendid  monuments. 
During  the  winter  he  oppressed  the  imperial  provinces  by 
enormous  contributions,  and  exhausted  the  Austrian  terri- 
tories by  his  winter  quarters,  which  he  purposely  avoided 
taking  up  in  an  enemy's  country.  And  in  the  spring  of 
1633,  instead  of  being  the  first  to  open  the  campaign  with 
this  well-chosen  and  well-appointed  army,  and  to  make  a 
worthy  display  of  his  great  abilities,  he  was  the  last  who 
appeared  in  the  field  ;  and  even  then  it  was  an  hereditary 
province  of  Austria  which  he  selected  as  the  seat  of  war. 
Of  all  the  Austrian  provinces  Silesia  was  most  exposed 
to  danger.  Three  different  armies,  a  Swedish  under 
Count  Thurn,  a  Saxon  under  Arnheim  and  the  Duke  of 
Lauenburg,  and  one  of  Brandenburg  under  Borgsdorf, 
had  at  the  same  time  carried  the  war  into  this  country  ; 
they  had  already  taken  possession  of  the  most  important 
places,  ^uid  even  Breslau  had  embraced  the  cause  of  the 
allies.  But  this  crowd  of  commanders  and  armies  was 
the  very  means  of  saving  this  province  to  the  Emperor ; 
for  the  jealousy  of  the  generals,  and  the  mutual  hatred  of 
the  Saxons  and  the  Swedes,  never  allowed  them  to  act 
with  unanimity.  Arnheim  and  Thurn  contended  for  the 
chief  command ;  the  troops  of  Brandenburg  and  Saxony 
combined  against  the  Swedes,  whom  they  looked  upon  as 
troublesome  strangers  who  ought  to  be  got  rid  of  as  soon 
as  possible.  The  Saxons,  on  the  contrary,  lived  on  a  very 
intimate  footing  with  the  Imperialists,  and  the  officers  of 
both  these  hostile  armies  often  visited  and  entertained 
each  other.  The  Imperialists  were  allowed  to  remove 
their  property  without  hinderance,  and  many  did  not  affect 
to  conceal  that  they  had  received  large  sums  from  Vienna. 
Among  such  equivocal  allies  the  Swedes  saw  themselves 
sold  and  betrayed ;  and  any  great  enterprise  was  out  of 
the  question  while  so  bad  an  understanding  prevailed  be- 
tween the  troops.  General  Arnheim,  too,  was  absent  the 
greater  part  of  the  time ;  and  when  he  at  last  returned 
Wallenstein  was  fast  approaching  the  frontiers  with  a 
formidable  force. 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  293 

His  army  amounted  to  forty  thousand  men,  while  to 
oppose  him  the  allies  had  only  twenty-four  thousand. 
They  nevertheless  resolved  to  give  him  battle,  and 
marched  to  Munsterberg,  where  he  had  formed  an  in- 
trenched camp.  But  Wallenstein  remained  inactive  for 
eight  days ;  he  then  left  his  intrenchments  and  marched 
slowly  and  with  composure  to  the  enemy's  camp.  But 
even  after  quitting  his  position,  and  when  the  enemy,  em- 
boldened by  his  past  delay,  manfully  prepared  to  receive 
him,  he  declined  the  opportunity  of  fighting.  The 
caution  with  which  he  avoided  a  battle  was  imputed  to 
fear ;  but  the  well-established  reputation  of  Wallenstein 
enabled  him  to  despise  this  suspicion.  The  vanity  of 
the  allies  allowed  them  not  to  see  that  he  purposely 
saved  them  a  defeat  because  a  victory  at  that  time  would 
not  have  served  his  own  ends.  To  convince  them  of  his 
superior  power,  and  that  his  inactivity  proceeded  not 
from  any  fear  of  them,  he  put  to  death  the  commander 
of  a  castle  that  fell  into  his  hands  because  he  had  refused 
at  once  to  surrender  an  untenable  place. 

For  nine  days  did  the  two  armies  remain  within 
musket-shot  of  each  other,  when  Count  Terzky,  from  the 
camp  of  the  Imperialists,  appeared  with  a  trumpeter  in 
that  of  the  allies  inviting  General  Arnheim  to  a  confer- 
ence. The  purport  was  that  Wallenstein,  notwithstand- 
ing his  superiority,  was  willing  to  agree  to  a  cessation  of 
arms  for  six  weeks.  "  He  was  come,"  he  said,  "  to  con- 
clude a  lasting  peace  with  the  Swedes,  and  with  the 
princes  of  the  empire,  to  pay  the  soldiers,  and  to  satisfy 
every  one.  All  this  was  in  his  power ;  and  if  the  Aus- 
trian court  hesitated  to  confirm  his  agreement  he  would 
unite  with  the  allies,  and  (as  he  privately  whispered  to 
Arnheim)  hunt  the  Emperor  to  the  devil."  At  the  sec- 
ond conference  he  expressed  himself  still  more  plainly  to 
Count  Thurn.  "  All  the  privileges  of  the  Bohemians," 
he  engaged,  "should  be  confirmed  anew,  the  exiles  re- 
called and  restored  to  their  estates,  and  he  himself  would 
be  the  first  to  resign  his  share  of  them.  The  Jesuits,  as 
the  authors  of  all  past  grievances,  should  be  banished, 
the  Swedish  crown  indemnified  by  stated  payments,  and 
all  the  superfluous  troops  on  both  sides  employed  against 


294  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

the  Turks."  The  last  article  explained  the  whole  mys- 
tery. "  If,"  he  continued,  "  he  should  obtain  the  crown 
of  Bohemia  all  the  exiles  would  have  reason  to  applaud 
his  generosity ;  perfect  toleration  of  religions  should  be 
established  within  the  kingdom,  the  Palatine  family  be 
reinstated  in  its  rights,  and  he  would  accept  the  Mar- 
graviate  of  Moravia  as  a  compensation  for  Mecklenburg. 
The  allied  armies  would  then,  under  his  command,  ad- 
vance upon  Vienna,  and,  sword  in  hand,  compel  the 
Emperor  to  ratify  the  treaty." 

Thus  was  the  veil  at  last  removed  from  the  schemes 
over  which  he  had  brooded  for  years  in  mysterious 
silence.  Every  circumstance  now  convinced  him  that 
not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost  in  its  execution.  Nothing 
but  a  blind  confidence  in  the  good  fortune  and  military 
genius  of  the  Duke  of  Friedland  had  induced  the  Em- 
peror, in  the  face  of  the  remonstrances  of  Bavaria  and 
Spain,  and  at  the  expense  of  his  own  reputation,  to  con- 
fer upon  this  imperious  leader  such  an  unlimited  com- 
mand. But  this  belief  in  Wallenstein's  being  invincible 
had  been  much  weakened  by  the  inaction,  and  almost 
entirely  overthrown  by  the  defeat  at  Lutzen.  His  ene- 
mies at  the  imperial  court  now  renewed  their  intrigues ; 
and  the  Emperor's  disappointment  at  the  failure  of  his 
hopes  procured  for  their  remonstrances  a  favorable  recep- 
tion. Wallenstein's  whole  conduct  was  now  reviewed  witli 
the  most  malicious  criticism;  his  ambitious  haughtiness, 
his  disobedience  to  the  Emperor's  orders,  were  recalled  to 
the  recollection  of  that  jealous  prince,  as  well  as  the  com- 
plaints of  the  Austrian  subjects  against  his  boundless 
oppression ;  his  fidelity  was  questioned,  and  alarming 
hints  thrown  out  as  to  his  secret  views.  These  insinua- 
tions, which  the  conduct  of  the  duke  seemed  but  too  well 
to  justify,  failed  not  to  make  a  deep  impression  on  Fer- 
dinand ;  but  the  step  had  been  taken,  and  the  great  power 
with  \vhich  Wallenstein  had  been  invested  could  not  be 
taken  from  him  without  danger.  Insensibly  to  diminish 
that  power  was  the  only  course  that  now  remained,  and 
to  effect  this  it  must  in  the  first  place  be  divided ;  but, 
above  all,  the  Emperor's  present  dependence  on  the  good- 
will of  his  general  put  an  end  to.  But  even  this  right 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  295 

had  been  resigned  in  his  engagement  with  Wallenstein, 
and  the  Emperor's  own  handwriting  secured  him  against 
every  attempt  to  unite  another  general  with  him  in  the 
command  or  to  exercise  any  immediate  act  of  authority 
over  the  troops.  As  this  disadvantageous  contract  could 
neither  be  kept  nor  broken  recourse  was  had  to  artifice. 
Wallenstein  was  Imperial  Generalissimo  in  Germany, 
but  his  command  extended  no  further,  and  he  could  not 
presume  to  exercise  any  authority  over  a  foreign  army. 
A  Spanish  army  was  accordingly  raised  in  Milan  and 
marched  into  Germany  under  a  Spanish  general.  Wal- 
lenstein now  ceased  to  be  indispensable  because  he  was 
no  longer  supreme,  and  in  case  of  necessity  the  Emperor 
was  now  provided  with  the  means  of  support  even  against 
him. 

The  duke  quickly  and  deeply  felt  whence  this  blow 
came  and  whither  it  was  aimed.  In  vain  did  he  protest 
against  this  violation  of  the  compact  to  the  Cardinal 
Infante ;  the  Italian  army  continued  its  march  and  he 
was  forced  to  detach  General  Altringer  to  join  it  with  a 
reinforcement.  He  took  care,  indeed,  so  closely  to  fetter 
the  latter  as  to  prevent  the  Italian  army  from  acquiring 
any  great  reputation  in  Alsace  and  Swabia ;  but  this  bold 
step  of  the  court  awakened  him  from  his  security,  and 
warned  him  of  the  approach  of  danger.  That  he  might 
not  a  second  time  be  deprived  of  his  command  and  lose  the 
fruit  of  all  his  labors  he  must  accelerate  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  long-meditated  designs.  He  secured  the 
attachment  of  his  troops  by  removing  the  doubtful  offi- 
cers and  by  his  liberality  to  the  rest.  He  had  sacrificed 
to  the  welfare  of  the  army  every  other  order  in  the  state, 
every  consideration  of  justice  and  humanity,  and  there- 
fore he  reckoned  upon  their  gratitude.  At  the  very 
moment  when  he  meditated  an  unparalleled  act  of  ingrati- 
tude against  the  author  of  his  own  good  fortune  he 
founded  all  his  hopes  upon  the  gratitude  which  was  due 
to  himself. 

The  leaders  of  the  Silesian  armies  had  no  authority 
from  their  principals  to  consent  on  their  own  discretion 
to  such  important  proposals  as  those  of  Wallenstein,  and 
they  did  not  even  feel  themselves  warranted  in  granting 


296  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

for  more  than  a  fortnight  the  cessation  of  hostilities 
which  he  demanded.  Before  the  duke  disclosed  his 
designs  to  Sweden  and  Saxony  he  had  deemed  it  advis- 
able to  secure  the  sanction  of  France  to  his  bold  under- 
taking. For  this  purpose  a  secret  negotiation  had  been 
carried  on  with  the  greatest  possible  caution  and  distrust 
by  Count  Kinsky  with  Feuquieres,  the  French  ambassador 
at  Dresden,  and  had  terminated  according  to  his  wishes. 
Feuquieres  received  orders  from  his  court  to  promise 
every  assistance  on  the  part  of  France,  and  to  offer  the 
duke  a  considerable  pecuniary  aid  in  case  of  need. 

But  it  was  this  excessive  caution  to  secure  himself  on 
all  sides  that  led  to  his  ruin.  The  FVench  ambassador 
with  astonishment  discovered  that  a  plan  which,  more 
than  any  other,  required  secrecy,  had  been  communicated 
to  the  Swedes  and  the  Saxons.  And  yet  it  was  generally 
known  that  the  Saxon  ministry  was  in  the  interests  of 
the  Emperor,  and  on,  the  other  hand,  the  conditions 
offered  to  the  Swedes  fell  too  far  short  of  their  expecta- 
tions to  be  likely  to  be  accepted.  Feuquieres  therefore 
could  not  believe  that  the  duke  could  be  serious  in  calcu- 
lating upon  the  aid  of  the  latter  and  the  silence  of  the 
former.  He  communicated  accordingly  his  doubts  and 
anxieties  to  the  Swedish  chancellor,  who  equally  dis- 
trusted the  views  of  Wallenstein  and  disliked  his  plans. 
Although  it  was  no  secret  to  Oxenstiern  that  the  duke 
had  formerly  entered  into  a  similar  negotiation  with  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus  he  could  not  credit  the  possibility  of 
inducing  a  whole  army  to  revolt,  and  of  his  extravagant 
promises.  So  daring  a  design,  and  such  imprudent  con- 
duct, seemed  not  to  be  consistent  with  the  duke's  reserved 
and  suspicious  temper,  and  he  was  the  more  inclined  to 
consider  the  whole  as  the  result  of  dissimulation  and 
treachery  because  he  had  less  reason  to  doubt  his  pru- 
dence than  his  honesty. 

Oxenstiern's  doubts  at  last  affected  Arnheim  himself, 
who,  in  full  confidence  in  Wallenstein's  sincerity,  had  re- 
paired to  the  chancellor  at  Gelnhausen  to  persuade  him 
to  lend  some  of  his  best  regiments  to  the  duke  to  aid  him 
in  the  execution  of  the  plan.  They  began  to  suspect  that 
the  whole  proposal  was  only  a  snare  to  disarm  the  allies, 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  297 

and  to  betray  the  flower  of  their  troops  into  the  hands  of 
the  Emperor.  Wallenstein's  well-known  character  did 
not  contradict  the  suspicion,  and  the  inconsistencies  in 
which  he  afterwards  involved  himself  entirely  destroyed 
all  confidence  in  his  sincerity.  While  he  was  endeavor- 
ing to  draw  the  Swedes  into  this  alliance,  and  requiring 
the  help  of  their  best  troops,  he  declared  to  Arnheim  that 
they  must  begin  with  expelling  the  Swedes  from  the 
empire ;  and  while  the  Saxon  officers,  relying  upon  the 
security  of  the  truce,  repaired  in  great  numbers  to  his 
camp  he  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  seize  them. 
He  was  the  first  to  break  the  truce,  which  some  months 
afterwards  he  renewed,  though  not  without  great  diffi- 
culty. All  confidence  in  his  sincerity  was  lost ;  his  whole 
conduct  was  regarded  as  a  tissue  of  deceit  and  low  cun- 
ning, devised  to  weaken  the  allies  and  repair  his  own 
strength.  This  indeed  he  actually  did  effect,  as  his  own 
army  daily  augmented,  while  that  of  the  allies  was  re- 
duced nearly  one-half  by  desertion  and  bad  provisions. 
But  he  did  not  make  that  use  of  his  superiority  which 
Vienna  expected.  When  all  men  were  looking  for  a  deci- 
sive blow  to  be  struck  he  suddenly  renewed  -the  negotia- 
tions ;  and  when  the  truce  lulled  the  allies  into  security  he 
as  suddenly  recommenced  hostilities.  All  these  contradic- 
tions arose  out  of  the  double  and  irreconcilable  designs  to 
ruin  at  once  the  Emperor  and  the  Swedes,  and  to  con- 
clude a  separate  peace  with  the  Saxons. 

Impatient  at  the  ill-success  of  his  negotiations  he  at 
last  determined  to  display  his  strength  ;  the  more  so  as 
the  pressing  distress  within  the  empire,  and  the  growing 
dissatisfaction  of  the  imperial  court,  admitted  not  of  his 
making  any  longer  delay.  Before  the  last  cessation  of 
hostilities  General  Hoik  from  Bohemia  had  attacked  the 
circle  of  Meissen,  laid  waste  everything  on  his  route  with 
fire  and  sword,  driven  the  Elector  into  his  fortresses, 
and  taken  the  town  of  Leipzig.  But  the  truce  in  Silesia 
put  a  period  to  his  ravages,  and  the  consequences  of  his 
excesses  brought  him  to  the  grave  at  Adorf.  As  soon  as 
hostilities  were  recommenced  Wallenstein  made  a  move- 
ment as  if  he  designed  to  penetrate  through  Lusatia  into 
Saxony,  and  circulated  the  report  that  Piccolomini  had 


298  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR. 

already  invaded  that  country.  Arnheim  immediately 
broke  up  his  camp  in  Silesia  to  follow  him,  and  hastened 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Electorate.  By  this  means  the 
Swedes  were  left  exposed,  who  were  encamped  in  small 
force  under  Count  Thurn  at  Steinau,  on  the  Oder,  and 
this  was  exactly  what  Wallenstein  desired.  He  allowed 
the  Saxon  general  to  advance  sixteen  miles  towards 
Meissan,  and  then,  suddenly  turning  towards  the  Oder, 
surprised  the  Swedish  army  in  the  most  complete  security. 
Their  cavalry  were  first  beaten  by  General  Schafgotseh, 
who  was  sent  against  them,  and  the  infantry  completely 
surrounded  at  Steinau  by  the  duke's  army,  which  followed. 
Wallenstein  gave  Count  Thurn  half  an  hour  to  deliberate 
whether  he  would  defend  himself  with  two  thousand  five 
hundred  men  against  more  than  twenty  thousand,  or 
surrender  at  discretion.  But  there  was  no  room  for  de- 
liberation. The  army  surrendered,  and  the  most  com- 
plete victory  was  obtained  without  bloodshed.  Colors, 
baggage,  and  artillery  all  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors, 
the  officers  were  taken  into  custody,  the  privates  drafted 
into  the  army  of  Wallenstein.  And  now  at  last",  after  a 
banishment  of  fourteen  years,  after  numberless  changes  of 
fortune,  the  author  of  the  Bohemian  insurrection,  and  the 
remote  origin  of  this  destructive  war,  the  notorious  Count 
Thurn,  was  in  the  power  of  his  enemies.  With  blood- 
thirsty impatience  the  arrival  of  this  great  criminal  was 
looked  for  in  Vienna,  where  they  already  anticipated 
the  malicious  triumph  of  sacrificing  so  distinguished  a 
victim  to  public  justice.  But  to  deprive  the  Jesuits  of 
this  pleasure  was  still  a  sweeter  triumph  to  Wallenstein, 
and  Thurn  was  set  at  liberty.  Fortunately  for  him  he 
knew  more  than  it  was  prudent  to  have  divulged  in 
Vienna,  and  his  enemies  were  also  those  of  Wallenstein. 
A  defeat  might  have  been  forgiven  in  Vienna,  but  this 
disappointment  of  their  hopes  they  could  not  pardon. 
"What  should  I  have  done  with  this  madman?"  he 
writes  with  a  malicious  sneer  to  the  minister  \vho  called 
him  to  account  for  this  unseasonable  magnanimity. 
"Would  to  Heaven  the  enemy  had  no  generals  but  such 
as  he.  At  the  head  of  the  Swedish  army  he  will  render 
us  much  better  service  than  in  prison." 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  299 

The  victory  of  Steinau  was  followed  by  the  capture  of 
Liegnitz,  Grossglogau,  and  even  of  Frankfort  on  the 
Oder.  Schafgotsch,  who  remained  in  Silesia  to  complete 
the  subjugation  of  that  province,  blockaded  Breig,  and 
threatened  Breslau,  though  in  vain,  as  that  free  town  was 
jealous  of  its  privileges  and  devoted  to  the  Swedes. 
Colonels  Illo  and  Goetz  were  ordered  by  Wallenstein  to 
the  Warta,  to  push  forward  into  Pomerania,  and  to  the 
coasts  of  the  Baltic,  and  actually  obtained  possession  of 
Landsberg,  the  key  of  Pomerania.  While  thus  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg  and  the  Duke  of  Pomerania  were 
made  to  tremble  for  their  dominions,  Wallenstein  himself 
with  the  remainder  of  his  army  burst  suddenly  into 
Lusatia,  where  he  took  Goerlitz  by  storm,  and  forced 
Bautzen  to  surrender.  But  his  object  was  merely  to 
alarm  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  not  to  follow  up  the  ad- 
vantages already  obtained  ;  and  therefore,  even  with  the 
sword  in  his  hand,  he  continued  his  negotiations  for  peace 
with  Brandenburg  and  Saxony,  but  with  no  better  suc- 
cess than  before,  as  the  inconsistencies  of  his  conduct  had 
destroyed  all  confidence  in  his  sincerity.  He  was  there- 
fore on  the  point  of  turning  his  whole  force  in  earnest 
against  the  unfortunate  Saxons,  and  effecting  his  object 
by  force  of  arms,  when  circumstances  compelled  him  to 
leave  these  territories.  The  conquests  of  Duke  Bernard 
upon  the  Danube,  which  threatened  Austria  itself  with 
immediate  danger,  urgently  demanded  his  presence  in 
Bavaria;  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Saxons  and  Swedes 
from  Silesia  deprived  him  of  every  pretext  for  longer 
resisting  the  imperial  orders  and  leaving  the  Elector  of 
Bavaria  without  assistance.  With  his  main  body,  there- 
fore, he  immediately  set  out  for  the  Upper  Palatinate, 
and  his  retreat  freed  Upper  Saxony  forever  of  this  formi- 
dable enemy. 

So  long  as  was  possible  he  had  delayed  to  move  to  the 
rescue  of  Bavaria,  and  on  every  pretext  evaded  the 
commands  of  the  Emperor.  He  had,  indeed,  after  reiter- 
ated remonstrances,  despatched  from  Bohemia  a  rein- 
forcement of  some  regiments  to  Count  Altringer,  who 
was  defending  the  Lech  and  the  Danube  against  Horn 
and  Bernard,  but  under  the  express  condition  of  his 


300  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR. 

acting  merely  on  the  defensive.  He  referred  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Elector,  whenever  they  applied  to  him  for 
aid,  to  Altringer,  who,  as  he  publicly  gave  out,  had  re- 
ceived unlimited  powers ;  secretly,  however,  he  tied  up 
his  hands  by  the  strictest  injunctions,  and  even  threatened 
him  with  death  if  he  exceeded  his  orders.  When  Duke 
Bernard  had  appeared  befoi-e  Ratisbon,  and  the  Emperor 
as  well  as  the  Elector  repeated  still  more  urgently  their 
demand  for  succor,  he  pretended  he  was  about  to  de- 
spatch General  Gallas  with  a  considerable  army  to  the 
Danube ;  but  this  movement  also  was  delayed,  and  Ratis- 
bon,  Straubing,  and  Cham,  as  well  as  the  Bishopric  of 
Eichstadt,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes.  When  at 
last  he  could  no  longer  neglect  the  orders  of  the  court 
he  marched  slowly  toward  the  Bavarian  frontier,  where 
he  invested  the  town  of  Cham,  which  had  been  taken 
by  the  Swedes.  But  no  sooner  did  he  learn  that  on 
the  Swedish  side  a  diversion  was  contemplated  by  an 
inroad  of  the  Saxons  into  Bohemia  than  he  availed  him- 
self of  the  report  as  a  pretext  for  immediately  retreating 
into  that  kingdom.  Every  consideration,  he  urged,  must 
be  postponed  to  the  defence  and  preservation  of  the 
hereditaiy  dominions  of  the  Emperor;  and  on  this  plea 
he  remained  firmly  fixed  in  Bohemia,  Avhich  he  guarded 
as  if  it  had  been  his  own  property.  And  when  the 
Emperor  laid  upon  him  his  commands  to  move  towards 
the  Danube,  and  prevent  the  Duke  of  Weimar  from 
establishing  himself  in  so  dangerous  a  position  on  the 
frontiers  of  Austria,  Wallenstein  thought  proper  to  con- 
clude the  campaign  a  second  time,  and  quartered  his 
troops  for  the  winter  in  this  exhausted  kingdom. 

Such  continued  insolence  and  unexampled  contempt 
of  the  imperial  orders,  as  well  as  obvious  neglect  of  the 
common  cause,  joined  to  his  equivocal  behavior  towards 
the  enemy,  tended  at  last  to  convince  the  Emperor  of  the 
truth  of  those  unfavorable  reports  with  regard  to  the 
duke  which  were  current  through  Germany.  The  lat- 
ter had  for  a  long  time  succeeded  in  glozing  over  his 
criminal  correspondence  with  the  enemy,  and  persuading 
the  Emperor,  still  prepossessed  in  his  favor,  that  the  sole 
object  of  his  secret  conferences  was  to  obtain  peace  for 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  301 

Germany.  But,  impenetrable  as  he  himself  believed  his 
proceedings  to  be,  in  the  course  of  his  conduct  enough 
transpired  to  justify  the  insinuations  with  which  his  rivals 
incessantly  loaded  the  ear  of  the  Emperor.  In  order  to 
satisfy  himself  of  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  these  rumors 
Ferdinand  had  already,  at  different  times,  sent  spies 
into  Wallenstein's  camp ;  but  as  the  duke  took  the  pre- 
caution never  to  commit  anything  in  writing  they  re- 
turned with  nothing  but  conjectures.  But  when  at  last 
those  ministers  who  had  formerly  been  his  champions  at 
the  court,  in  consequence  of  their  estates  not  being 
exempted  by  Wallenstein  from  the  general  exactions, 
joined  his  enemies ;  when  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  threat- 
ened, in  case  of  Wallenstein  being  any  longer  retained 
in  the  supreme  command,  to  unite  with  the  Swedes ; 
when  the  Spanish  ambassador  insisted  on  his  dismissal, 
and  threatened  in  case  of  refusal  to  withdraw  the  subsi- 
dies furnished  by  his  crown,  the  Emperor  found  himself 
a  second  time  compelled  to  deprive  him  of  the  command. 

The  Emperor's  authoritative  and  direct  interference 
with  the  army  soon  convinced  the  duke  that  the  com- 
pact with  himself  was  regarded  as  at  an  end,  and  thr.t 
his  dismissal  was  inevitable.  One  of  his  inferior  generals 
in  Austria,  whom  he  had  forbidden  under  pain  of  death 
to  obey  the  orders  of  the  court,  received  the  positive 
commands  of  the  Emperor  to  join  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  ; 
and  Wallenstein  himself  was  imperiously  ordered  to  send 
some  regiments  to  reinforce  the  army  of  the  Cardinal 
Infante,  who  was  on  his  march  from  Italy.  All  these 
measures  convinced  him  that  the  plan  was  finally  arranged 
to  disarm  him  by  degrees,  and  at  once,  when  he  was  weak 
and  defenceless,  to  complete  his  ruin. 

In  self-defence  must  he  now  hasten  to  carry  into  execu- 
tion the  plans  which  he  had  originally  formed  only  with 
the  view  of  aggrandizement.  He  had  delayed  too  long, 
either  because  the  favorable  configuration  of  the  stars 
had  not  yet  presented  itself,  or,  as  he  used  to  say,  to 
check  the  impatience  of  his  friends,  because  the  time  was 
not  yet  come.  The  time  even  now  was  not  come ;  but 
the  pressure  of  circumstances  no  longer  allowed  him  to 
await  the  favor  of  the  stars.  The  first  step  was  to  assure 


302  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

himself  of  the  sentiments  of  his  principal  officers,  and 
then  to  try  the  attachment  of  the  army,  which  lie  had 
so  long  confidently  reckoned  on.  Three  of  them,  Colonels 
Kinsky,  Terzky,  and  Illo,  had  long  been  in  his  secrets, 
and  the  two  first  were  further  united  to  his  interests  by 
the  ties  of  relationship.  The  same  wild  ambition,  the 
same  bitter  hatred  of  the  government,  and  the  hope  of 
enormous  rewards,  bound  them  in  the  closest  manner  to 
Wallenstein,  who,  to  increase  the  number  of  his  adherents, 
could  stoop  to  the  lowest  means.  He  had  once  advised 
Colonel  Illo  to  solicit  in  Vienna  the  title  of  count,  and 
had  promised  to  back  his  application  with  his  powerful 
mediation.  But  he  secretly  wrote  to  the  ministry,  advis- 
ing them  to  refuse  his  request,  as  to  grant  it  would  give 
rise  to  similar  demands  from  others  whose  services  and 
claims  were  equal  to  his.  On  Illo's  return  to  the  camp 
Wallenstein  immediately  demanded  to  know  the  success 
of  his  mission ;  and  when  informed  by  Illo  of  its  failure, 
he  broke  out  into  the  bitterest  complaints  against  the 
court.  "  Thus,"  said  he,  "  are  our  faithful  services  re- 
warded. My  recommendation  is  disregarded,  and  your 
merit  denied  so'  trifling  a  reward  !  Who  would  any  longer 
devote  his  services  to  so  ungrateful  a  master?  No,  for 
my  part,  I  am  henceforth  the  determined  foe  of  Austria." 
Illo  agreed  with  him,  and  a  close  alliance  was  cemented 
between  them. 

But  what  was  known  to  these  three  confidants  of  the 
duke  was  long  an  impenetrable  secret  to  the  rest ;  and 
the  confidence  with  which  Wallenstein  spoke  of  the  devo- 
tion of  his  officers  was  founded  merely  on  the  favors  he 
had  lavished  on  them,  and  on  their  known  dissatisfaction 
with  the  court.  But  this  vague  presumption  must  be 
converted  into  certainty  before  he  could  venture  to  lay 
aside  the  mask  or  take  any  open  step  against  the  Em- 
peror. Count  Piccolomini,  who  had  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  unparalleled  bravery  at  Lutzen,  was  the  first 
whose  fidelity  he  put  to  the  proof.  He  had  he  thought 
gained  the  attachment  of  this  general  by  large  presents, 
and  preferred  him  to  all  others  because  born  under  the 
same  constellations  with  himself.  He  disclosed  to  him 
that  in  consequence  of  the  Emperor's  ingratitude,  and  the 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS*    WAR.  303 

near  approach  of  his  own  danger,  he  had  irrevocably 
determined  entirely  to  abandon  the  party  of  Austria,  to 
join  the  enemy  with  the  best  part  of  his  army,  and  to 
make  war  upon  the  House  of  Austria  on  all  sides  of  its 
dominions  till  he  had  wholly  extirpated  it.  In  the 
execution  of  this  plan  he  principally  reckoned  on  the 
services  of  Piccolomini,  and  had  beforehand  promised 
him  the  greatest  rewards.  When  the  latter,  to  conceal 
his  amazement  at  this  extraordinary  communication, 
spoke  of  the  dangers  and  obstacles  which  would  oppose 
so  hazardous  an  enterprise,  Wallenstein  ridiculed  his 
fears.  "In  such  enterprises,"  he  maintained,  "nothing 
was  difficult  but  the  commencement.  The  stars  were 
propitious  to  him,  the  opportunity  the  best  that  could  be 
wished  for,  and  something  must  always  be  trusted  to 
fortune.  His  resolution  was  taken,  and  if  it  could  not  be 
otherwise  he  would  encounter  the  hazard  at  the  head  of 
a  thousand  horse."  Piccolomini  was  careful  not  to  excite 
Wallenstein's  suspicions  by  longer  opposition,  and  yielded 
apparently  to  the  force  of  his  reasoning.  Such  was  the 
infatuation  of  the  duke  that,  notwithstanding  the  warn- 
ings of  Count  Terzky,  he  never  doubted  the  sincerity  of 
this  man,  who  lost  not  a  moment  in  communicating  to 
the  court  at  Vienna  this  important  conversation. 

Preparatory  to  taking  the  last  decisive  step  he,  in 
January,  1634,  called  a  meeting  of  all  the  commanders  of 
the  army  at  Pilsen,  whither  he  had  marched  after  his 
retreat  from  Bavaria.  The  Emperor's  recent  orders  to 
spare  his  hereditary  dominions  from  winter  quarterings, 
to  recover  Ratisbon  in  the  middle  of  winter,  and  to 
reduce  the  army  by  a  detachment  of  six  thousand  horse 
to  the  Cardinal  Infante,  were  matters  sufficiently  grave  to 
be  laid  before  a  council  of  war ;  and  this  plausible  pretext 
served  to  conceal  from  the  curious  the  real  object  of  the 
meeting.  Sweden  and  Saxony  received  invitations  to  be 
present  in  order  to  treat  with  the  Duke  of  Friedland  for 
a  peace ;  to  the  leaders  of  more  distant  armies  written 
communications  were  made.  Of  the  commanders  thus 
summoned  twenty  appeared  ;  but  three  most  influential, 
Gallas,  Colloredo  and  Altringer  were  absent.  The  duke 
reiterated  his  summons  to  them,  and  in  the  meantime,  in 


304  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*    WAR. 

expectation  of  their  speedy  arrival,  proceeded  to  execute 
his  designs. 

It  was  no  light  task  that  he  had  to  perform ;  a  noble- 
man, proud,  brave,  and  jealous  of  his  honor  was  to 
declare  himself  capable  of  the  basest  treachery,  in  the 
very  presence  of  those  who  had  been  accustomed  to  re- 
gard him  as  the  representative  of  majesty,  the  judge  of 
their  actions,  and  the  supporter  of  their  laws,  and  to 
show  himself  suddenly  as  a  traitor,  a  cheat,  and  a  rebel. 
It  was  no  easy  task  either  to  shake  to  its  foundations  a 
legitimate  sovereignty,  strengthened  by  time  and  conse- 
crated by  laws  and  religion  ;  to  dissolve  all  the  charms 
of  the  senses  and  the  imagination,  those  formidable 
guardians  of  an  established  throne,  and  to  attempt 
forcibly  to  uproot  those  invincible  feelings  of  duty  which 
plead  so  loudly  and  so  powerfully  in  the  breast  of  the 
subject  in  favor  of  his  sovereign.  But,  blinded  by  the 
splendor  of  a  crown,  Wallenstein  observed  not  the  preci- 
pice that  yawned  beneath  his  feet ;  and  in  full  reliance 
on  his  own  strength,  the  common  case  with  energetic  and 
daring  minds,  he  stopped  not  to  consider  the  magnitude 
and  the  number  of  the  difficulties  that  opposed  him. 
Wallenstein  saw  nothing  but  an  army,  partly  indifferent 
and  partly  exasperated  against  the  court,  accustomed 
with  a  blind  submission  to  do  homage  to  his  great  name, 
to  bow  to  him  as  their  legislator  and  judge,  and  with 
trembling  reverence  to  follow  his  orders  as  the  decrees  of 
fate.  In  the  extravagant  flatteries  which  were  paid  to 
his  omnipotence,  in  the  bold  abuse  of  the  court  govern- 
ment in  which  a  lawless  soldiery  indulged,  and  which  the 
wild  license  of  the  camp  excused,  l.e  thought  he  read  the 
sentiments  of  the  army;  and  the  Loldness  with  which 
they  were  ready  to  censure  the  monarch's  measures, 
passed  writh  him  for  a  readiness  to  renounce  their  alle- 
giance to  a  sovereign  so  little  respected.  But  that  which 
he  had  regarded  as  the  lightest  matter  proved  the  most 
formidable  obstacle  with  which  he  had  to  contend  ;  the 
soldiers'  feelings  of  allegiance  were  the  rock  on  which  his 
hopes  were  wrecked.  Deceived  -by  the  profound  respect 
in  which  he  was  held  by  these  lawless  bands,  he  ascribed 
the  whole  to  his  own  personal  greatness,  without  distin- 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  305 

guishing  how  much  he  owed  to  himself  and  how  much  to  tne 
dignity  with  which  he  was  invested.  All  trembled  before 
him  while  he  exercised  a  legimate  authority,  while  obedi- 
ence to  him  was  a  duty,  and  while  his  consequence  was 
supported  by  the  majesty  of  the  sovereign.  Greatness  in 
and  of  itself  may  excite  terror  and  admiration ;  but  legit- 
imate greatness  alone  can  inspire  reverence  and  submis- 
sion ;  and  of  this  decisive  advantage  he  deprived  himself 
the  instant  he  avowed  himself  a  traitor. 

Field-Marshal  Illo  undertook  to  learn  the  sentiments  of 
the  officers  and  to  prepare  them  for  the  step  which  was 
expected  of  them.  He  began  by  laying  before  them  the 
new  orders  of  the  court  to  the  general  and  the  army; 
and  by  the  obnoxious  turn  he  skilfully  gave  to  them  he 
found  it  easy  to  excite  the  indignation  of  the  assembly. 
After  this  well-chosen  introduction  he  expatiated  with 
much  eloquence  upon  the  merits  of  the  army  and  the 
general  and  the  ingratitude  with  which  the  Emperor  was 
accustomed  to  requite  them.  Spanish  influence,  he  main- 
tained, governed  the  court ;  the  ministry  were  in  the  pay 
of  Spain;  the  Duke  of  Friedland  alone  had  hitherto 
opposed  this  tyranny,  and  had  thus  drawn  down  upon 
himself  the  deadly  enmity  of  the  Spaniards.  To  remove 
him  from  the  command  or  to  make  away  with  him 
entirely,  he  continued,  had  long  been  the  end  of  their 
desires ;  and  until  they  could  succeed  in  one  or  the 
other  they  endeavored  to  abridge  his  power  in  the  field. 
The  command  was  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  King 
of  Hungary  for  no  other  reason  than  the  better  to  promote 
the  Spanish  power  in  Germany ;  because  this  prince,  as 
the  ready  instrument  of  foreign  counsels,  might  be  led  at 
pleasure.  It  was  merely  with  the  view  of  weakening  the 
army  that  the  six  thousand  troops  were  required  for  the 
Cardinal  Infante ;  it  was  solely  for  the  purpose  of  harass- 
ing it  by  a  winter  campaign  that  they  were  now  called 
on  in  this  inhospitable  season  to  undertake  the  recovery 
of  Ratisbon.  The  means  of  subsistence  were  evervwhere 
rendered  difficult,  while  the  Jesuits  and  the  ministry 
enriched  themselves  with  the  sweat  of  the  provinces  and 
squandered  the  money  intended  for  the  pay  of  the  troops. 
The  general  abandoned  by  the  court  acknowledges  his 


306  THE    THIKTY    YEAUS'    WAR. 

inability  to  keep  his  engagements  to  the  army.  For  all  the 
services  which  for  t\vo-and -twenty  years  he  had  rendered 
the  House  of  Austria ;  for  all  the  difficulties  with  which 
he  had  struggled ;  for  all  the  treasures  of  his  own  which 
he  had  expended  in  the  imperial  service,  a  second  dis- 
graceful dismissal  awaited  him.  But  he  was  resolved  the 
matter  should  not  come  to  this ;  he  was  determined 
voluntarily  to  resign  the  command  before  it  should  be 
wrested  from  his  hands ;  and  this,  continued  the 
orator,  is  Avhat  through  me  he  now  makes  known  to  his 
officers.  It  was  now  for  them  to  say  whether  it  would  be 
advisable  to  lose  such  a  general.  Let  each  consider  who 
was  to  refund  him  the  sums  he  had  expended  in  the 
Emperor's  service,  and  where  he  was  now  to  reap  the 
reward  of  their  bravery  when  he  who  was  their  evidence 
was  removed  from  the  scene." 

A  universal  cry  that  they  would  not  allow  their  general 
to  be  taken  from  them  interrupted  the  speaker.  Four 
of  the  principal  officers  were  deputed  to  lay  before  him 
the  wish  of  the  assembly,  and  earnestly  to  request  that 
he  would  not  leave  the  army.  The  duke  made  a  show 
of  resistance  and  only  yielded  after  the  second  deputa- 
tion. This  concession  on  his  side  seemed  to  demand  a 
return  on  theirs ;  as  he  engaged  not  to  quit  the  service 
without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  generals,  he 
required  of  them,  on  the  other  hand,  a  written  promise 
to  truly  and  firmly  adhere  to  him,  neither  to  separate 
nor  to  allow  themselves  to  be  separated  from  him,  and 
to  shed  their  last  drop  of  blood  in  his  defence.  Whoever 
should  break  this  covenant  was  to  be  regarded  as  a 
perfidious  traitor,  and  treated  by  the  rest  as  a  common 
enemy.  The  express  condition,  which  was  added,  "  As 
long  as  Wallenstein  shall  employ  the  army  in  the  Em- 
peror's service"  seemed  to  exclude  all  misconception,  and 
none  of  the  assembled  generals  hesitated  at  once  to  accede 
to  a  demand  apparently  so  innocent  and  so  reasonable. 

This  document  was  publicly  read  before  an  entertain- 
ment which  Field-Marshal  Illo  had  expressly  prepared 
for  the  purpose ;  it  was  to  be  signed  after  they  rose  from 
table.  The  host  did  his  utmost  to  stupify  his  guests  by 
strong  potations;  and  it  was  not  until  he  saw  them 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  307 

affected  with  the  wine  that  he  had  produced  the  paper 
for  signature.  Most  of  them  wrote  their  names  without 
knowing  what  they  were  subscribing  ;  a  few  only,  more 
curious  or  more  distrustful,  read  the  paper  over  again, 
and  discovered  with  astonishment  that  the  clause  "  as  long 
as  Wallenstein  shall  employ  the  army  for  the  Emperor's 
service"  was  omitted.  Illo  had,  in  fact,  artfully  con- 
trived to  substitute  for  the  first  another  copy  in  which 
these  words  were  wanting.  The  trick  was  manifest  and 
many  refused  now  to  sign.  Piccolomini,  who  had  seen 
through  the  whole  cheat,  and  had  been  present  at  this 
scene  merely  with  the  view  of  giving  information  of  the 
whole  to  the  court,  forgot  himself  so  far  in  his  cups  as  to 
drink  the  Emperor's  health.  But  Count  Terzky  now 
rose  and  declared  that  all  were  perjured  villains  who 
should  recede  from  their  engagement.  His  menaces,  the 
idea  of  the  inevitable  danger  to  which  they  who  resisted 
any  longer  would  be  exposed,  the  example  of  the  rest, 
and  Illo's  rhetoric,  at  last  overcame  their  scruples,  and 
the  paper  was  signed  by  all  without  exception. 

Wallenstein  had  now  effected  his  purpose ;  but  the 
unexpected  resistance  he  had  met  with  from  the  com- 
manders roused  him  at  last  from  the  fond  illusions  in 
which  he  had  hitherto  indulged.  Besides,  most  of  the 
names  were  scrawled  so  illegibly  that  some  deceit  was 
evidently  intended.  But  instead  of  being  recalled  to  his 
discretion  by  this  warning  he  gave  vent  to  his  injured 
pride  in  undignified  complaints  and  reproaches.  He 
assembled  the  generals  the  next  day,  and  undertook 
personally  to  confirm  the  whole  tenor  of  the  agreement 
which  Illo  had  submitted  to  them  the  day  before.  After 
pouring  out  the  bitterest  reproaches  and  abuse  against 
the  court,  he  reminded  them  of  their  opposition  to  the 
proposition  of  the  previous  day,  and  declared  that  this 
circumstance  had  induced  him  to  retract  his  own  promise. 
The  generals  withdrew  in  silence  and  confusion ;  but 
after  a  short  consultation  in  the  ante-chamber  they  re- 
turned to  apologize  for  their  late  conduct  and  offered  to 
sign  the  paper  anew. 

Nothing  now  remained  but  to  obtain  a  similar  assur- 
ance from  the  absent  generals,  or,  on  their  refusal,  to 


308  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

seize  their  persons.  Wallenstein  renewed  his  invitation 
to  them,  and  earnestly  urged  them  to  hasten  their  arrival. 
But  a  rumor  of  the  doings  at  Pilsen  reached  them  on 
their  journey  and  suddenly  stopped  their  further  pro- 
gress. Altringer,  on  pretence  of  sickness,  remained  in  the 
strong  fortress  of  Frauenberg.  Gallas  made  his  ap- 
pearance, but  merely  with  the  design  of  better  qualifying 
himself  as  an  eye-witness,  to  keep  the  Emperor  informed 
of  all  Wallenstein's  proceedings.  The  intelligence  which 
he  and  Piccolomini  gave  at  once  converted  the  suspi- 
cions of  the  court  into  an  alarming  certainty.  Similar 
disclosures,  which  were  at  the  same  time  made  from  other 
quarters,  left  no  room  for  further  doubt ;  and  the  sudden 
change  of  the  commanders  in  Austria  and  Silesia  ap- 
peared to  be  the  prelude  to  some  important  enterprise. 
The  danger  was  pressing  and  the  remedy  must  be  speedy, 
but  the  court  was  unwilling  to  proceed  at  once  to  the 
execution  of  the  sentence  till  the  regular  forms  of  justice 
were  complied  with.  Secret  instructions  were  therefore 
issued  to  the  principal  officers,  on  whose  fidelity  reliance 
could  be  placed,  to  seize  the  persons  of  the  Duke  of 
Friedland  and  of  his  two  associates,  Illo  and  Terzky,  and 
keep  them  in  close  confinement  till  they  should  have  an 
opportunity  of  being  heard  and  of  answering  for  their 
conduct ;  but  if  this  could  not  be  accomplished  quietly 
the  public  danger  required  that  they  should  be  taken  dead 
or  alive.  At  the  same  time  General  Gallas  received  a 
patent  commission,  by  which  these  orders  of  the  Emperor 
were  made  known  to  the  colonels  and  officers,  and  the 
army  was  released  from  its  obedience  to  the  traitor,  and 
placed  under  Lieutsnant-General  Gallas  till  a  new  gene- 
ralissimo could  be  appointed.  In  order  to  bring  back  the 
seduced  and  deluded  to  their  duty,  and  not  to  drive  the 
guilty  to  despair,  a  general  amnesty  was  proclaimed  in 
regard  to  all  offences  against  the  imperial  majesty  com- 
mitted at  Pilsen. 

General  Gallas  was  not  pleased  with  the  honor  which 
was  done  him.  He  was  at  Pilsen  under  the  eye  of  the 
person  whose  fate  he  was  to  dispose  of ;  in  the  power  of 
an  enemy  who  had  a  hundred  eyes  to  watch  his  motions. 
If  Wallenstein  once  discovered  the  secret  of  his  commis- 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  309 

sion  nothing  could  save  him  from  the  effects  of  his 
vengeance  and  despair.  But  if  it  was  thus  dangerous  to 
be  the  secret  depositary  of  such  a  commission  how  much 
more  so  to  execute  it  ?  The  sentiments  of  the  generals, 
were  uncertain ;  and  it  Avas  at  least  doubtful  whether, 
after  the  step  they  had  taken,  they  would  be  ready  to 
trust  the  Emperor's  promises,  and  at  once  to  abandon  the 
brilliant  expectations  they  had  built  upon  Wallenstein's 
enterprise.  It  was  also  hazardous  to  attempt  to  lay  hands 
on  the  person  of  a  man  who  till  now  had  been  considered 
inviolable;  who  from  long  exercise  of  supreme  power, 
and  from  habitual  obedience,  had  become  the  object  of 
deepest  respect ;  who  was  invested  with  every  attribute 
of  outward  majesty  and  inward  greatness ;  whose  very 
aspect  inspired  terror,  and  who  by  a  nod  disposed  of  life 
and  death  !  To  seize  such  a  man,  like  a  common  criminal, 
in  the  midst  of  the  guards  by  whom  he  was  surrounded, 
and  in  a  city  apparently  devoted  to  him  ;  to  convert  the 
object  of  this  deep  and  habitual  veneration  into  a  subject 
of  compassion  or  of  contempt  was  a  commission  calcu- 
lated to  make  even  the  boldest  hesitate.  So  deeply  was 
fear  and  veneration  for  their  general  engraven  in  the 
breasts  of  the  soldiers  that  even  the  atrocious  crime  of 
high  treason  could  not  wholly  eradicate  these  sentiments. 
Gallas  perceived  the  impossibility  of  executing  his 
commission  under  the  eyes  of  the  duke;  and  his  most 
anxious  wish  was  before  venturing  on  any  steps  to  have 
an  interview  with  Altringer.  As  the  long  absence  of 
the  latter  had  already  begun  to  excite  the  duke's  sus- 
picions Gallas  offered  to  repair  in  person  to  Frauenberg, 
and  to  prevail  on  Altringer,  his  relation,  to  return  with 
him.  Wallenstein  was  so  pleased  with  this  proof  of  his 
zeal  that  he  even  lent  him  his  own  equipage  for  the 
journey.  Rejoicing  at  the  success  of  his  stratagem,  he 
left  Pilsen  without  delay,  leaving  to  Count  Piccolomini  the 
task  of  watching  Wallenstein's  further  movements.  He 
did  riot  fail  as  he  went  along  to  make  use  of  the  imperial 
patent,  and  the  sentiments  of  the  troops  proved  more 
favorable  than  he  had  expected.  Instead  of  taking  back 
his  friend  to  Pilsen  he  despatched  him  to  Vienna,  to  warn 
the  Emperor  against  the  intended  attack,  while  he  him- 


310  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

self  repaired  to  Upper  Austria,  of  which  the  safety  was 
threatened  by  the  near  approach  of  Duke  Bernard.  In 
Bohemia  the  towns  of  Budweiss  and  Tabor  were  again 
garrisoned  for  the  Emperor,  and  every  precaution  taken 
to  oppose  with  energy  the  designs  of  the  traitor. 

As  Gallas  did  not  appear  disposed  to  return,  Pic- 
colomini  determined  to  put  Wallenstein's  credulity  once 
more  to  the  test.  He  begged  to  be  sent  to  bring  back 
Gallas,  and  Wallenstein  suffered  himself  a  second  time  to 
be  overreached.  This  inconceivable  blindness  can  only 
be  accounted  for  as  the  result  of  his  pride,  which  never 
retracted  the  opinion  it  had  once  formed  of  any  person, 
and  would  not  acknowledge  even  to  itself  the  possibility 
of  being  deceived.  He  conveyed  Count  Piccolomini  in 
his  own  carriage  to  Lintz,  where  the  latter  immediately 
followed  the  example  of  Gallas,  and  even  went  a  step 
farther.  He  had  promised  the  duke  to  return.  He  did 
so,  but  it  was  at  the  head  of  an  army,  intending  to  sur- 
prise the  duke  in  Pilsen.  Another  army  under  General 
Suys  hastened  to  Prague  to  secure  that  capital  in  its  alle- 
giance and  to  defend  it  against  the  rebels.  Gallas  at  the 
same  time  announced  himself  to  the  different  imperial 
armies  as  the  commander-in-chief,  from  whom  they  were 
henceforth  to  receive  orders.  Placards  were  circulated 
through  all  the  imperial  camps  denouncing  the  duke 
and  his  four  confidants,  and  absolving  the  soldiers  from 
all  obedience  to  him. 

The  example  which  had  been  set  at  Lintz  was  uni- 
versally followed  ;  imprecations  were  showered  on  the 
traitor,  and  he  was  forsaken  by  all  the  armies.  At  last, 
when  even  Piccolomini  returned  no  more,  the  mist  fell 
from  Wallenstein's  eyes,  and  in  consternation  he  awoke 
from  his  dream.  Yet  his  faith  in  the  truth  of  astrology 
and  in  the  fidelity  of  the  army  was  unshaken.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  intelligence  of  Piccolomini's  defection  he 
issued  orders  that  in  future  no  commands  were  to  be 
obeyed  which  did  not  proceed  directly  from  himself,  or 
from  Terzky,  or  Illo.  He  prepared  in  all  haste  to  ad- 
vance upon  Prague,  where  he  intended  to  throw  off  the 
mask  and  to  openly- declare  against  the  Emperor.  All  the 
troops  were  to  assemble  before  that  city,  and  from  thence 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  311 

to  pour  down  with  rapidity  upon  Austria.  Duke  Ber- 
nard, who  had  joined  the  conspiracy,  was  to  support  the 
operations  of  the  duke  with  the  Swedish  troops,  and  to 
effect  a  diversion  upon  the  Danube. 

Terzky  was  already  upon  his  inarch  towards  Prague ; 
and  nothing  but  the  want  of  horses  prevented  the  duke 
from  following  him  with  the  regiments  who  still  adhered 
faithfully  to  him.  But  when  with  the  most  anxious  ex- 
pectation he  awaited  intelligence  from  Prague  he  sud- 
denly received  information  of  the  loss  of  that  town,  the 
defection  of  his  generals,  the  desertion  of  his  troops,  the 
discovery  of  his  whole  plot,  and  the  rapid  advance  of 
Piccolomini,  who  was  sworn  to  his  destruction.  Sud- 
denly and  fearfully  had  all  his  projects  been  ruined  —  all 
his  hopes  annihilated.  He  stood  alone,  abandoned  by  all 
to  whom  he  had  been  a  benefactor,  betrayed  by  all  on 
whom  he  had  depended.  But  it  is  under  such  circum- 
stances that  great  minds  reveal  themselves.  Though 
deceived  in  all  his  expectations  he  refused  to  abandon 
one  of  his  designs ;  he  despaired  of  nothing  so  long  as 
life  remained.  The  time  was  now  come  when  he  abso- 
lutely required  that  assistance  which  he  had  so  often 
solicited  from  the  Swedes  and  the  Saxons,  and  when  all 
doubts  of  the  sincerity  of  his  purposes  must  be  dispelled. 
And  now,  when  Oxenstiern  and  Arnheim  were  convinced 
of  the  sincirity  of  his  intentions,  and  were  aware  of  his 
necessities,  they  no  longer  hesitated  to  embrace  the 
favorable  opportunity  and  to  offer  him  their  protection. 
On  the  part  of  Saxony,  the  Duke  Francis  Albert  of  Saxe 
Lauenberg  was  to  join  him  with  four  thousand  men,  and 
Duke  Bernard  and  the  Palatine  Christian  of  Birkenfeld 
with  six  thousand  from  Sweden,  all  chosen  troops. 

Wallenstein  left  Pilsen  with  Terzky's  regiment  and  the 
few  who  either  were  or  pretended  to  be  faithful  to  him, 
and  hastened  to  Egra,  on  the  frontiers  of  the  kingdom, 
in  order  to  be  near  the  Upper  Palatinate  and  to  facili- 
tate his  junction  with  Duke  Bernard.  He  was  not  yet 
informed  of  the  decree  by  which  he  was  proclaimed  a 
public  enemy  and  traitor;  this  thunder-stroke  awaited 
him  at  Egra.  He  still  reckoned  on  the  army  which  Gen- 
eral Schafgotsch  was  preparing  for  him  in  Silesia,  and 


312  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*  WAR. 

flattered  himself  with  the  hope  that  many  even  of  those 
who  had  forsaken  him  would  return  with  the  first  dawn- 
ing of  success.  Even  during  his  flight  to  Egra  (so  little 
humility  had  he  learned  from  melancholy  experience)  he 
was  still  occupied  with  the  colossal  scheme  of  dethron- 
ing the  Emperor.  It  was  under  these  circumstances  that 
one  of  his  suite  asked  leave  to  offer  him  his  advice. 
"  Under  the  Emperor,"  said  he,  "  your  highness  is  certain 
of  being  a  great  and  respected  noble ;  with  the  enemy 
you  are  at  best  but  a  precarious  king.  It  is  unwise  to 
risk  a  certainty  for  uncertainty.  The  enemy  will  avail 
themselves  of  your  personal  influence  while  the  oppor- 
tunity lasts ;  but  you  will  ever  be  regarded  with  sus- 
picion, and  they  will  always  be  fearful  lest  you  should 
treat  them  as  you  have  done  the  Emperor.  Return, 
then,  to  your  alligiance,  while  there  is  yet  time."  "  And 
how  is  that  to  be  done?"  said  Wallenstein,  interrupting 
him.  "  You  have  forty  thousand  men-at-arms,"  rejoined 
he  (meaning  ducats,  which  were  stamped  with  the 
figure  of  an  armed  man),  "take  them  with  you  and  go 
straight  to  the  imperial  court;  then  declare  that  the 
steps  you  have  hitherto  taken  were  merely  designed  to 
test  the  fidelity  of  the  Emperor's  servants,  and  of  dis- 
tinguishing the  loyal  from  the  doubtful ;  and  since  most 
have  shown  a  disposition  to  revolt,  say  you  are  come  to 
warn  his  imperial  majesty  against  those  dangerous  men. 
Thus  you  will  make  those  appear  as  traitors  who  are 
laboring  to  represent  you  as  a  false  villain.  At  the  im- 
perial court  a  man  is  sure  to  be  welcome  with  forty 
thousand  ducats,  and  Friedland  will  be  again  as  he  was 
at  first."  "  The  advice  is  good,"  said  Wallenstein,  after 
a  pause,  "  but  let  the  devil  trust  to  it." 

While  the  duke  in  his  retirement  in  Egra  was  ener- 
getically pushing  his  negotiations  with  the  enemy,  con- 
sulting the  stars,  and  indulging  in  new  hopes,  the  dagger 
which  was  to  put  an  end  to  his  existence  was  unsheathed 
almost  under  his  very  eyes.  The  imperial  decree  which 
proclaimed  him  an  outlaw  had  not  failed  of  its  effect ; 
and  an  avenging  Nemesis  ordained  that  the  ungrateful 
should  fall  beneath  the  blow  of  ingratitude.  Among 
his  officers  Wallenstein  had  particularly  distinguished 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  313 

one  Leslie,*  an  Irishman,  and  had  made  his  fortune. 
This  was  the  man  who  now  felt  himself  called  on  to 
execute  the  sentence  against  him  and  to  earn  the  price  of 
blood.  No  sooner  had  he  reached  Egra  in  the  suite  of 
the  duke  than  he  disclosed  to  the  commandant  of  the 
town,  Colonel  Butler,  and  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Gordon, 
two  Protestant  Scotchmen,  the  treasonable  designs  of  the 
duke,  which  the  latter  had  imprudently  enough  communi- 
cated to  him  during  the  journey.  In  these  two  individu- 
als he  had  found  men  capable  of  a  determined  resolution. 
They  were  now  called  upon  to  chose  between  treason 
and  duty,  between  their  legitimate  sovereign  and  a  fugitive 
abandoned  rebel ;  and  though  the  latter  was  their  com- 
mon benefactor  the  choice  could  not  remain  for  a  moment 
doubtful.  They  were  solemnly  pledged  to  the  allegiance 
of  the  Emperor,  and  this  duty  required  them  to  take  the 
most  rapid  measures  against  the  public  enemy.  The 
opportunity  was  favorable;  his  evil  genius  seemed  to 
have  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  vengeance.  But 
not  to  encroach  on  the  province  of  justice  they  resolved 
to  deliver  up  their  victim  alive;  and  they  parted  with 
the  bold  resolve  to  take  their  general  prisoner.  This 
dark  plot  was  buried  in  the  deepest  silence,  and  Wallen- 
stein,  far  from  suspecting  his  impending  ruin,  flattered 
himself  that  in  the  garrison  of  Egra  he  possessed  his 
bravest  and  most  faithful  champions. 

At  this  time  he  became  acquainted  with  the  imperial 
proclamations  containing  his  sentence  and  which  had 
been  published  in  all  the  camps.  He  now  became  aware 
of  the  full  extent  of  the  danger  which  encompassed  him, 
the  utter  impossibility  of  retracing  his  steps,  his  fearfully 
forlorn  condition,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  at  once 
trusting  himself  to  the  faith  and  honor  of  the  Emperor's 
enemies.  To  Leslie  he  poured  forth  all  the  anguish  of 
his  wounded  spirit,  and  the  vehemence  of  his  agitation 
extracted  from  him  his  last  remaining  secret.  He  dis- 
closed to  this  officer  his  intention  to  deliver  up  Egra  and 
Ellenbogen,  the  passes  of  the  kingdom  to  the  Palatine  of 

*  Schiller  is  mistaken  as  to  this  point.  Leslie  was  a  Scotchman  and  Buttler 
an  Irishman  and  a  papist.  He  died  a  general  in  the  Emperor's  service,  and 
founded  at  Prague  a  convent  of  Irish  Franciscans  which  still  exists. 


314  THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR. 

Birkcnfeld,  and  at  the  same  time  informed  him  of  the 
near  approach  of  Duke  Bernard,  of  whose  arrival  he 
hoped  to  receive  tidings  that  very  night.  These  dis- 
closures, which  Leslie  immediately  communieated  to  the 
conspirators,  made  them  change  their  original  plan.  The 
urgency  of  the  danger  admitted  not  of  half  measures. 
Egra  might  in  a  moment  be  in  the  enemy's  hands,  and  a 
sudden  revolution  set  their  prisoner  at  liberty.  To  antici- 
pate this  mischance  they  resolved  to  assassinate  him  and 
his  associates  the  following  night. 

In  order  to  execute  this  design  with  less  noise  it  was 
arranged  that  the  fearful  deed  should  be  perpetrated  at 
an  entertainment  which  Colonel  Buttler  should  give  in 
the  castle  of  Egra.  All  the  guests  except  Wallenstein 
made  their  appearance,  who,  being  in  too  great  anxiety 
of  mind  to  enjoy  company,  excused  himself.  With  regard 
to  him,  therefore,  their  plan  must  be  again  changed ;  but 
they  resolved  to  execute  their  design  against  the  others. 
The  three  colonels,  Illo,  Terzky,  and  William  Kinsky, 
came  in  with  careless  confidence,  and  with  them  Captain 
Neumann,  an  officer  of  ability,  whose  advice  Terzky 
sought  in  every  intricate  affair.  Previous  to  their  arrival 
trusty  soldiers  of  the  garrison,  to  whom  the  plot  had  been 
communicated,  were  admitted  into  the  castle,  all  the 
avenues  leading  from  it  guarded,  and  six  of  Buttler's 
dragoons  concealed  in  an  appartment  close  to  the  ban- 
queting-room,  who,  on  a  concerted  signal,  were  to  rush 
in  and  kill  the  traitors.  Without  suspecting  the  danger 
that  hung  over  them,  the  guests  gayly  abandoned  them- 
selves to  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  and  Wallenstein's 
health  was  drunk  in  full  bumpers,  not  as  a  servant  of  the 
Emperor  but  as  a  sovereign  prince.  The  wine  opened 
their  hearts,  and  Illo,  with  exultation,  boasted  that  in 
three  days  an  army  would  arrive  such  as  Wallenstein  had 
never  before  been  at  the  head  of.  "  Yes,"  cried  Xeu- 
mann,  "  and  then  he  hopes  to  bathe  his  hands  in  Austrian 
blood."  During  this  conversation  the  desert  was  brought 
in,  and  Leslie  gave  the  concerted  signal  to  raise  the  draw- 
bridges, while  he  himself  received  the  keys  of  the  gates. 
In  an  instant  the  hall  was  filled  with  armed  men,  who, 
with  the  unexpected  greeting  of  "  Long  live  Ferdinand  ! " 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*    WAR.  315 

placed  themselves  behind  the  chairs  of  the  marked  guests. 
Surprised,  and  with  a  presentiment  of  their  fate,  they 
sprang  from  the  table.  Kinsky  and  Terzky  were  killed 
upon  the  spot  and  before  they  could  put  themselves  upon 
their  guard.  Neumann  during  the  confusion  in  the  hall 
escaped  into  the  court,  where,  however,  he  was  instantly 
recognized  and  cut  down.  Illo  alone  had  the  presence  of 
mind  to  defend  himself.  He  placed  his  back  against  a 
window,  from  whence  he  poured  the  bitterest  reproaches 
upon  Gordon,  and  challenged  him  to  fight  him  fairly  and 
honorably.  After  a  gallant  resistance,  in  which  he  slew 
two  of  his  assailants,  he  fell  to  the  ground  overpowered 
by  numbers  and  pierced  with  ten  wounds.  The  deed 
was  no  sooner  accomplished  than  Leslie  hastened  into  the 
town  to  prevent  a  tumult.  The  sentinels  at  the  castle 
gate  seeing  him  running  and  out  of  breath,  and  believing 
he  belonged  to  the  rebels,  fired  their  muskets  after  him, 
but  without  effect.  The  firing,  however,  aroused  the 
town  guard,  and  all  Leslie's  presence  of  mind  was  requi- 
site to  allay  the  tumult.  He  hastily  detailed  to  them  all 
the  circumstances  of  Wallenstein's  conspiracy,  the  meas- 
ures which  had  been  already  taken  to  counteract  it,  the 
fate  of  the  four  rebels,  as  well  as  that  which  awaited  their 
chief.  Finding  the  troops  well-disposed  he  exacted  from 
them  a  new  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Emperor,  and  to  live 
and  die  for  the  good  cause.  A  hundred  of  Buttler's 
dragoons  were  sent  from  the  castle  into  the  town  to 
patrol  the  streets,  to  overawe  the  pai'tisans  of  the  duke, 
and  to  prevent  tumult.  All  the  gates  of  Egra  were  at 
the  same  time  seized,  and  every  avenue  to  Wallenstein's 
residence,  which  adjoined  the  market-place,  guarded  by  a 
numerous  and  trusty  body  of  troops  sufficient  to  prevent 
either  his  escape  or  his  receiving  any  assistance  from 
without. 

But  before  they  proceeded  finally  to  execute  the  deed 
a  long  conference  was  held  among  the  conspirators-in  the 
castle  whether  they  should  kill  him  or  content  themselves 
with  making  him  prisoner.  Besprinkled  as  they  were 
with  the  blood,  and  deliberating  almost  over  the  very 
corpses  of  his  murdered  associates,  even  these  furious 
men  yet  shuddered  at  the  horror  of  taking  away  so  illus- 


316  THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

trious  a  life.  They  saw  him  before  their  mind's  eye 
their  leader  in  battle  in  the  days  of  his  good  fortune, 
surrounded  by  his  victorious  army,  clothed  with  all  the 
pomp  of  military  greatness ;  and  long-accustomed  awe 
again  seized  their  minds.  But  this  transitory  emotion 
was  soon  effaced  by  the  thought  of  the  immediate  danger. 
They  remembered  the  hints  which  Neumann  and  Illo  had 
thrown  out  at  table,  the  near  approach  of  a  formidable 
army  of  Swedes  and  Saxons,  and  they  clearly  saw  that 
the  death  of  the  traitor  was  their  only  chance  of  safety. 
They  adhered,  therefore,  to  their  first  resolution,  and 
Captain  Deveroux,  an  Irishman,  who  had  already  been 
retained  for  the  murderous  purpose,  received  decisive 
orders  to  act. 

While  these  three  officers  were  thus  deciding  upon  his 
fate  in  the  castle  of  Egra,  Wallenstein  was  occupied  in 
reading  the  stars  with  Seni.  "The  danger  is  not  yet 
over,  said  the  astrologer,  with  prophetic  spirit,  "  It  is" 
replied  the  duke,  who  would  give  the  law  even  to  heaven. 
"But,"  he  continued  with  equally  prophetic  spirit,  "that 
thou  friend  Seni  thyself  shall  soon  be  thrown  into  prison, 
that  also  is  written  in  the  stars."  The  astrologer  had 
taken  his  leave  and  Wallenstein  had  retired  to  bed,  when 
Captain  Deveroux  appeared  before  his  residence  with  six 
halberdiers,  and  was  immediately  admitted  by  the  guard, 
who  were  accustomed  to  see  him  visit  the  general  at  all 
hours.  A  page  who  met  him  upon  the  stairs  and  attempted 
to  raise  an  alarm  was  run  through  the  body  with  a  pike. 
In  the  ante-chamber  the  assassins  met  a  servant  who  had 
just  come  out  of  the  sleeping-room  of  his  master  and  had 
taken  with  him  the  key.  Putting  his  finger  upon  his 
mouth  the  terrified  domestic  made  a  sign  to  them  to  make 
no  noise,  as  the  duke  was  asleep.  "  Friend,"  cried 
Deveroux,  "  it  is  time  to  awake  him ;  "  and  with  these 
wards  he  rushed  against  the  door,  which  was  also  bolted 
from  within,  and  burst  it  open. 

Wallenstein  had  been  roused  from  his  first  sleep  by  the 
report  of  a  musket  which  had  accidentally  gone  off,  and 
had  sprung  to  the  window  to  call  the  guard.  At  the  same 
moment  he  heard  from  the  adjoining  building  the  shrieks 
of  the  Countesses  Terzky  and  Kinsky,  who  had  just 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  317 

learned  the  violent  fate  of  their  husbands.  Ere  he  had 
time  to  reflect  on  these  terrible  events  Deveroux,  with 
the  other  murderers,  was  in  his  chamber.  The  duke  was 
in  his  shirt,  as  he  had  leaped  out  of  bed,  and  leaning  on  a 
table  near  the  window.  "  Art  thou  the  villain,"  cried  Deve- 
roux to  him,  "  who  intends  to  deliver  up  the  Emperor's 
troops  to  the  enemy,  and  to  tear  the  crown  from  the  head 
of  his  majesty?  Now  thou  must  die!"  He  paused  for 
a  few  moments  as  if  expecting  an  answer ;  but  scorn  and 
astonishment  kept  Wallenstein  silent.  Throwing  his  arms 
wide  open  he  received  in  his  breast  the  deadly  blow  of 
the  halberts,  and,  without  uttering  a  groan,  fell  weltering 
in  his  blood. 

The  next  day  an  express  arrived  from  the  Duke  of 
Lauenburg  announcing  his  approach.  The  messenger  was 
secured,  and  another  in  Wallenstein's  livery  despatched  to 
the  duke  to  decoy  him  into  Egra.  The  stratagem  suc- 
ceeded, and  Francis  Albert  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  Duke  Bernard  of  Weimar,  who  was  on  his  march 
towards  Egra,  was  nearly  sharing  the  same  fate.  Fortu- 
nately he  heard  of  Wallenstein's  death  in  time  to  save 
himself  by  a  retreat.  Ferdinand  shed  a  tear  over  the  fate 
of  his  general,  and  ordered  three  thousand  masses  to  be 
said  for  his  soul  at  Vienna;  but  at  the  same  time  he  did 
not  forget  to  reward  his  assassins  with  gold  chains,  cham- 
berlains' keys,  dignities,  and  estates. 

Thus  did  Wallenstein,  at  the  age  of  fifty,  terminate  his 
active  and  extraordinary  life.  To  ambition  he  owed  both 
his  greatness  and  his  ruin ;  with  all  his  failings  he  pos- 
sessed great  and  admirable  qualities,  and  had  he  kept 
himself  within  due  bounds  he  would  have  lived  and  died 
without  an  equal.  The  virtues  of  the  ruler  and  of  the 
hero,  prudence,  justice,  firmness,  and  courage,  are  strik- 
ingly prominent  features  in  his  character ;  but  he  wanted 
the  gentler  virtues  of  the  man  which  adorn  the  hero  and 
make  the  ruler  beloved.  Terror  was  the  talisman  with 
which  he  worked  ;  extreme  in  his  punishments  as  in  his 
rewards,  he  knew  how  to  keep  alive  the  zeal  of  his  fol- 
lowers, while  no  general  of  ancient  or  modern  times  could 
boast  of  being  obeyed  with  equal  alacrity.  Submission 
to  his  will  was  more  prized  by  him  than  bravery ;  for  if 


318  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

the  soldiers  work  by  the  latter  it  is  on  the  former  that 
the  general  depends.  He  continually  kept  up  the  obe- 
dience of  his  troops  by  capricious  orders,  and  profusely 
rewarded  the  readiness  to  obey  even  in  trifles,  because 
he  looked  rather  to  the  act  itself  than  its  object.  He  once 
issued  a  decree,  with  the  penalty  of  death  on  disobedience 
that  none  but  red  sashes  should  be  worn  in  the  army.  A 
captain  of  horse  no  sooner  heard  the  order  than  pulling 
off  his  gold-embroidered  sash  he  trampled  it  under  foot ; 
Wallenstein,  on  being  informed  of  the  circumstance,  pro- 
moted him  on  the  spot  to  the  rank  of  colonel.  His  com- 
prehensive glance  was  always  directed  to  the  whole,  and 
in  all  his  apparent  caprice  he  steadily  kept  in  view  some 
general  scope  or  bearing.  The  robberies  committed  by 
the  soldiers  in  a  friendly  country  had  led  to  the  severest 
orders  against  marauders ;  and  all  who  should  be  caught 
thieving  were  threatened  with  the  halter.  Wallenstein 
himself  having  met  a  straggler  in  the  open  country  upon 
the  field  commanded  him  to  be  seized  without  trial  as  a 
transgressor  of  the  law,  nnd  in  his  usual  voice  of  thunder 
exclaimed,  "Hang  the  fellow,"  against  which  no  opposition 
ever  availed.  The  soldier  pleaded  and  proved  his  in- 
nocence, but  the  irrevocable  sentence  had  gone  forth. 
"  Hang,  then,  innocent,"  cried  the  inexorable  Wallenstein, 
"  the  guilty  will  have  then  more  reason  to  tremble." 
Preparations  were  already  making  to  execute  the  sentence 
when  the  soldier,  who  gave  himself  up  for  lost,  formed  the 
desperate  resolution  of  not  dying  without  revenge.  He 
fell  furiously  upon  his  judge,  but  was  overpowered  by 
numbers  and  disarmed  before  he  could  fulfil  his  design. 
"  Now  let  him  go,"  said  the  duke,  "  it  will  excite  sufficient 
terror." 

His  munificence  was  supported  by  an  immense  income, 
which  was  estimated  at  three  millions  of  florins  yearly, 
without  reckoning  the  enormous  sums  which  he  raised 
under  the  name  of  contributions.  His  liberality  and 
clearness  of  understanding  raised  him  above  the  religious 
prejudices  of  his  age;  and  the  Jesuits  never  forgave  him 
for  having  seen  through  their  system  and  for  regarding 
the  Pope  as  nothing  more  than  a  bishop  of  Rome. 

But  as  no  one  ever  yet  came  to  a  fortunate  end  who  quar- 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  319 

relied  with  the  Church,  Wallenstein  also  must  augment 
the  number  of  its  victims.  Through  the  intrigues  of 
monks  he  lost  at  Ratisbon  the  command  of  the  army,  and 
at  Egra  his  life ;  by  the  same  arts,  perhaps,  he  lost,  what 
was  of  more  consequence,  his  honorable  name  and  good 
repute  with  posterity.  For  in  justice  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  pens  which  have  traced  the  history  of 
this  extraordinary  man  are  not  untinged  with  partiality, 
and  that  the  treachery  of  the  duke,  and  his  designs  upon 
the  throne  of  Bohemia,  rest  not  so  much  upon  proven 
facts  as  upon  probable  conjecture.  No  documents  have 
yet  been  brought  to  light  which  disclose  with  historical 
certainty  the  secret  motives  of  his  conduct ;  and  among 
all  his  public  and  well-attested  actions  there  is,  perhaps, 
not  one  which  could  not  have  had  an  innocent  end. 
Many  of  his  most  obnoxious  measures  proved  nothing 
but  the  earnest  wish  he  entertained  for  peace ;  most  of 
the  others  are  explained  and  justified  by  the  well-founded 
distrust  he  entertained  of  the  Emperor  and  the  excus- 
able wish  of  maintaining  his  own  importance.  It  is  true 
that  his  conduct  towards  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  looks 
too  like  an  unworthy  revenge  and  the  dictates  of  an  im- 
placable spirit ;  but  still  none  of  his  actions,  perhaps, 
warrant  us  in  holding  his  treason  to  be  proved.  If 
necessity  and  despair  at  last  forced  him  to  deserve  the 
sentence  which  had  been  pronounced  against  him  while 
innocent,  still  this,  if  true,  will  not  justify  that  sentence. 
Thus  Wallenstein  fell,  not  because  he  was  a  rebel,  but  he 
became  a  rebel  because  he  fell.  Unfortunate  in  life  that 
he  made  a  victorious  party  his  enemy,  and  still  more 
unfortunate  in  death  that  the  same  party  survived  him 
and  wrote  his  history. 


BOOK  V. 

WALLENSTEIN'S  death  rendered  necessary  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  new  generalissimo ;  and  the  Emperor  yielded 
at  last  to  the  advice  of  the  Spaniards  to  raise  his  son 
Ferdinand,  King  of  Hungary,  to  that  dignity.  Under 


320  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

him  Count  Gallas  commanded,  who  performed  the  func- 
tions of  commander-in-chief,  while  the  prince  brought  to 
this  post  nothing  but  his  name  and  dignity.  A  consid- 
erable force  was  soon  assembled  under  Ferdinand  ;  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine  brought  up  a  considerable  body  of 
auxiliaries  in  person,  and  the  Cardinal  Infante  joined 
him  from  Italy  with  ten  thousand  men.  In  order  to 
drive  the  enemy  from  the  Danube  the  new  general 
undertook  the  enterprise  in  which  his  predecessor  had 
failed,  the  siege  of  Ratisbon.  In  vain  did  Duke  Bernard 
of  Weimar  penetrate  into  the  interior  of  Bavaria  witli  a 
view  to  draw  the  enemy  from  the  town ;  Ferdinand  con- 
tinued to  press  the  siege  with  vigor,  and  the  city,  after  a 
most  obstinate  resistance,  was  obliged  to  open  its  gates 
to  him.  Donauwerth  soon  shared  the  same  fate,  and 
Nordlingen  in  Swabia  was  now  invested.  The  loss  of 
so  many  of  the  imperial  cities  was  severely  felt  by  the 
Swedish  party;  as  the  friendship  of  these  towns  had  so 
largely  contributed  to  the  success  of  their  arms,  indiffer- 
ence to  their  fate  would  have  been  inexcusable.  It 
would  have  been  an  indelible  disgrace  had  they  deserted 
their  confederates  in  their  need,  and  abandoned  them  to 
the  revenge  of  an  implacable  conqueror.  Moved  by 
these  considerations  the  Swedish  army,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Horn  and  Bernard  of  Weimar,  advanced  upon 
Nordlingen,  determined  to  relieve  it  even  at  the  expense 
of  a  battle. 

The  undertaking  was  a  dangerous  one,  for  in  numbers 
the  enemy  was  greatly  superior  to  that  of  the  Swedes. 
There  was  also  a  further  reason  for  avoiding  a  battle  at 
present;  the  enemy's  force  was  likely  soon  to  divide,  the 
Italian  troops  being  destined  for  the  Netherlands.  In 
the  meantime  such  a  position  might  be  taken  up  as  to 
cover  Nordlingen  and  cut  off  their  supplies.  All  these 
grounds  were  strongly  urged  by  Gustavus  Horn  in  the 
Swedish  council  of  war;  but  his  remonstrances  were 
disregarded  by  men  who,  intoxicated  by  a  long  career  of 
success,  mistook  the  suggestions  of  prudence  for  the  voice 
of  timidity.  Overborne  by  the  superior  influence  of 
Duke  Bernard,  Gustavus  Horn  was  compelled  to  risk  a 
contest  whose  unfavorable  issue  a  dark  foreboding  seemed 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  321 

already  to  announce.  The  fate  of  the  battle  depended 
upon  the  possession  of  a  height  which  commanded  the 
imperial  camp.  An  attempt  to  occupy  it  during  the 
night  failed,  as  the  tedious  transport  of  the  artillery 
through  woods  and  hollow  ways  delayed  the  arrival 
of  the  troops.  When  the  Swedes  arrived  about  mid- 
night they  found  the  heights  in  possession  of  the  enemy, 
strongly  intrenched.  They  waited,  therefore,  for  day- 
break to  carry  them  by  storm.  Their  impetuous  courage 
surmounted  every  obstacle ;  the  intrenchments,  which 
were  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  were  successfully  scaled 
by  each  of  the  two  brigades  appointed  to  the  service ; 
but  as  they  entered  at  the  same  moment  from  opposite 
sides  they  met  and  threw  each  other  into  confusion.  At 
this  unfortunate  moment  a  barrel  of  powder  blew  up 
and  created  the  greatest  disorder  among  the  Swedes. 
The  imperial  cavalry  charged  upon  their  broken  ranks 
and  the  flight  became  universal.  No  persuasion  on  the 
part  of  their  general  could  induce  the  fugitives  to  renew 
the  assault. 

He  resolved,  therefore,  in  order  to  carry  this  important 
post,  to  lead  fresh  troops  to  the  attack.  But  in  the  inte- 
rim some  Spanish  regiments  had  marched  in,  and  every 
attempt  to  gain  it  was  repulsed  by  their  heroic  intre- 
pidity. One  of  the  duke's  own  regiments  advanced  seven 
times,  and  was  as  often  driven  back.  The  disadvantage 
of  not  occupying  this  post  in  time  was  quickly  and  sen- 
sibly felt.  The  fire  of  the  enemy's  artillery  from  the 
heights  caused  such  slaughter  in  the  adjacent  wing  of 
the  Swedes  that  Horn,  who  commanded  there,  was 
forced  to  give  orders  to  retire.  Instead  of  being  able  to 
cover  the  retreat  of  his  colleague,  and  to  check  the  pur- 
suit of  the  enemy,  Duke  Bernard,  overpowered  by 
numbers,  was  himself  driven  into  the  plain,  where  his 
routed  cavalry  spread  confusion  among  Horn's  brigade  and 
rendered  the  defeat  complete.  Almost  the  entire  infan- 
try were  killed  or  taken  prisoners.  More  than  twelve 
thousand  men  remained  dead  upon  the  field  of  battle ; 
eighty  field-pieces,  about  four  thousand  wagons,  and  three 
hundred  standards  and  colors  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Imperialists.  Horn  himself,  with  three  other  generals, 


322  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

were  taken  prisoners.  Duke  Bernard  with  difficulty 
saved  a  feeble  remnant  of  his  army,  which  joined  him  at 
Frankfort. 

The  defeat  at  Nordlingen  cost  the  Swedish  Chancellor 
the  second  sleepless  night  *  he  had  passed  in  Germany. 
The  consequences  of  this  disaster  were  terrible.  The 
Swedes  had  lost  by  it  at  once  their  superiority  in  the 
field,  and  with  it  the  confidence  of  their  confederates, 
which  they  had  gained  solely  by  their  previous  military 
success.  A  dangerous  division  threatened  the  Protestant 
Confederation  with  ruin.  Consternation  and  terror  seized 
upon  the  whole  party,  while  the  Papists  arose  with  ex- 
ulting triumph  from  the  deep  humiliation  into  which  they 
had  sunk.  Swabia  and  the  adjacent  circles  first  felt  the 
consequences  of  the  defeat  of  Nordlingen ;  and  Wirtem- 
berg  in  particular  was  overrun  by  the  conquering  army. 
All  the  members  of  the  League  of  Heilbronn  trembled  at 
the  prospect  of  the  Emperor's  revenge  ;  those  who  could 
fled  to  Strasburg,  while  the  helpless  free  cities  awaited 
their  fate  with  alarm.  A'  little  more  of  moderation 
towards  the  conquered  would  have  quickly  reduced  all 
the  weaker  states  under  the  Emperor's  authority  ;  but  the 
severity  which  was  practised,  even  against  those  who 
voluntarily  surrendered,  drove  the  rest  to  despair,  and 
roused  them  to  a  vigorous  resistance. 

In  this  perplexity  all  looked  to  Oxenstiern  for  counsel 
and  assistance ;  Oxenstiern  applied  for  both  to  the  Ger- 
man States.  Troops  were  wanted,  money  likewise  to 
raise  new  levies  and  to  pay  to  the  old  the  arrears  which 
the  men  were  clamorously  demanding.  Oxenstiern  ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony;  but  he  shame- 
fully abandoned  the  Swedish  cause  to  negotiate  for  a 
separate  peace  with  the  Emperor  at  Pirna.  He  solicited 
aid  from  the  Lower  Saxon  States;  but  they, long  wearied 
of  the  Swedish  pretensions  and  demands  for  money,  now 
thought  only  of  themselves ;  and  George,  Duke  of  Lunen- 
burg,  in  place  of  flying  to  the  assistance  of  Upper  Ger- 
many, laid  siege  to  Minden,  with  the  intention  of  keep- 
ing possession  of  it  for  himself.  Abandoned  by  his  Ger- 
man allies,  the  chancellor  exerted  himself  to  obtain  the 

*  The  first  was  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus. 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  323 

assistance  of  foreign  powers.  England,  Holland,  and 
Venice  were  applied  to  for  troops  and  money ;  and,  driven 
to  the  last  extremity,  the  chancellor  reluctantly  resolved 
to  take  the  disagreeable  step  which  he  had  so  long 
avoided,  and  to  throw  himself  under  the  protection  of 
Franc  •. 

The  moment  had  at  last  arrived  which  Richelieu  had 
long  waited  for  with  impatience.  Nothing,  he  was  aware, 
but  the  impossibility  of  saving  themselves  by  any  other 
means  could  induce  the  Protestant  States  in  Germany  to 
support  the  pretensions  of  France  upon  Alsace.  This 
extreme  necessity  had  now  arrived ;  the  assistance  of 
that  power  was  indispensable,  and  she  was  resolved  to  be 
well  paid  for  the  active  part  which  she  was  about  to  take 
in  the  German  war.  Full  of  lustre  and  dignity  it  now 
came  upon  the  political  stage.  Oxenstiern,  who  felt  little 
reluctance  in  bestowing  the  rights  and  possessions  of  the 
empire,  had  already  ceded  the  fortress  of  Philipsburg, 
and  the  other  long-coveted  places.  The  Protestants  of 
Upper  Germany  now,  in  their  own  names,  sent  a  special 
embassy  to  Richelieu,  requesting  him  to  take  Alsace,  the 
fortress  of  Breyssach,  which  was  still  to  be  recovered 
from  the  enemy,  and  all  the  places  upon  the  Upper  Rhine, 
which  were  the  keys  of  Germany,  under  the  protection  of 
France.  What  was  implied  by  French  protection  had 
been  seen  in  the  conduct  of  France  towards  the  Bishoprics 
of  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun,  which  it  had  held  for  centu- 
ries against  the  rightful  owners.  Treves  was  already  in 
the  possession  of  French  garrisons ;  Lorraine  was  in  a 
manner  conquered,  as  it  might  at  any  time  be  overrun  by 
an  army,  and  could  not  alone  and  with  its  own  strength 
withstand  its  formidable  neighbor.  France  now  enter- 
tained the  hope  of  adding  Alsace  to  its  large  and  numer- 
ous possessions,  and,  —  since  a  treaty  was  soon  to  be 
concluded  with  the  Dutch  for  the  partition  of  the  Spanish 
Netherlands  —  the  prospect  of  making  the  Rhine  its 
natural  boundary  towards  Germany.  Thus  shamefully 
were  the  rights  of  Germany  sacrificed  by  the  German 
States  to  this  treacherous  and  grasping  power,  which,  un- 
der the  mask  of  a  disinterested  friendship,  aimed  only  at 
its  own  aggrandizement ;  and  while  it  boldly  claimed  the 


324  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

honorable  title  of  a  protectress,  was  solely  occupied  with 
promoting  its  own  schemes  and  advancing  its  own  inter- 
ests amid  the  general  confusion. 

In  return  for  these  important  cessions  France  engaged 
to  effect  a  diversion  in  favor  of  the  Swedes  by  commenc- 
ing hostilities  against  the  Spaniards;  and  if  this  should 
lead  to  an  open  breach  with  the  Emperor,  to  maintain  an 
army  upon  the  German  side  of  the  Rhine,  which  was  to 
act  in  conjunction  with  the  Swedes  and  Germans  against 
Austria.  For  a  Avar  with  Spain  the  Spaniards  themselves 
soon  afforded  the  desired  pretext.  Making  an  inroad 
from  the  Netherlands  upon  the  city  of  Treves,  they  cut 
in  pieces  the  French  garrison ;  and,  in  open  violation  of 
the  law  of  nations,  made  prisoner  the  Elector,  who  had 
placed  himself  under  the  protection  of  France,  and  carried 
him  into  Flanders.  When  the  Cardinal  Infante,  as  Vice- 
roy of  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  refused  satisfaction  for 
these  injuries,  and  delayed  to  t'estore  the  prince  to  liberty, 
Richelieu,  after  the  old  custom,  formally  proclaimed  war 
at  Brussels  by  a  herald,  and  the  war  was  at  once  opened  by 
three  different  armies  in  Milan,  in  the  Valteline,  and  in 
Flanders.  The  French  minister  was  less  anxious  to 
commence  hostilities  with  the  Emperor,  which  promised 
fewer  advantages  and  threatened  greater  difficulties.  A 
fourth  army,  however,  was  detached  across  the  Rhine 
into  Germany,  under  the  command  of  Cardinal  Lavalette, 
which  was  to  act  in  conjunction  with  Duke  Bernard 
against  the  Emperor  without  a  previous  declaration  of 
war. 

A  heavier  blow  for  the  Swedes  than  even  the  defeat  of 
Nordlingen  was  the  reconciliation  of  the  Elector  of 
Saxony  with  the  Emperor.  After  many  fruitless  attempts, 
both  to  bring  about  and  to  prevent  it,  it  was  at  last  ef- 
fected in  1634,  at  Pirna,  and  the  following  year  reduced 
into  a  formal  treaty  of  peace  at  Prague.  The  Elector  of 
Saxony  had  always  viewed  with  jealousy  the  pretensions 
of  the  Swedes  in  Germany ;  and  his  aversion  to  this  for- 
eign power,  which  now  gave  laws  within  the  Empire,  had 
grown  with  every  fresh  requisition  that  Oxenstiern  was 
obliged  to  make  upon  the  German  States.  This  ill- 
feeling  was  kept  alive  by  the  Spanish  court,  who  labored 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  325 

earnestly  to  effect  a  peace  between  Saxony  and  the  Em- 
peror. Wearied  with  the  calamities  of  a  long  and  de- 
structive contest  which  had  selected  Saxony  above  all 
others  for  its  theatre  ;  grieved  by  the  miseries  which  both 
friend  and  foe  inflicted  upon  his  subjects,  and  seduced  by 
the  tempting  propositions  of  the  House  of  Austria,  the 
Elector  at  last  abandoned  the  common  cause ;  and  caring 
little  for  the  fate  of  his  confederates,  or  the  liberties  of 
Germany,  thought  only  of  securing  his  own  advantages, 
even  at  the  expense  of  the  whole  body. 

In  fact  the  misery  of  Germany  had  risen  to  such  a 
height  that  all  clamorously  vociferated  for  peace ;  and 
even  the  most  disadvantageous  pacification  would  have 
been  hailed  as  a  blessing  from  heaven.  The  plains  which 
formerly  had  been  thronged  with  a  happy  and  industrious 
population,  where  nature  had  lavished  her  choicest  gifts, 
and  plenty  and  prosperity  had  reigned,  were  now  a  wild 
and  desolate  wilderness.  The  fields,  abandoned  by  the 
industrious  husbandman,  lay  waste  and  uncultivated ;  and 
no  sooner  had  the  young  crops  given  the  promise  of  a 
smiling  harvest  than  a  single  march  destroyed  the  labors 
of  a  year  and  blasted  the  last  hope  of  an  afflicted  peas- 
antry. Burnt  castles,  wasted  fields,  villages  in  ashes, 
were  to  be  seen  extending  far  and  wide  on  all  sides,  while 
the  ruined  peasantry  had  no  resource  left  but  to  swell  the 
horde  of  incendiaries,  and  fearfully  to  retaliate  upon  their 
fellows,  who  had  hitherto  been  spared  the  miseries  which 
they  themselves  had  suffered.  The  only  safeguard  against 
oppression  was  to  become  an  oppressor.  The  towns 
groaned  under  the  licentiousness  of  undisciplined  and 
plundering  garrisons,  who  seized  and  wasted  the  property 
of  the  citizens,  and  under  the  license  of  their  position  com- 
mitted the  most  remorseless  devastation  and  cruelty.  If 
the  march  of  an  army  converted  whole  provinces  into  des- 
erts, if  others  were  impoverished  by  winter  quarters  or 
exhausted  by  contributions,  these  still  were  but  passing 
evils,  and  the  industry  of  a  year  might  efface  the  miseries 
of  a  few  months.  But  there  was  no  relief  for  those  who 
had  a  garrison  within  their  walls  or  in  the  neighborhood  ; 
even  the  change  of  fortune  could  not  improve  their  un- 
fortunate fate,  since  the  victor  trod  in  the  steps  of  the 


326  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

vanquished,  and  friends  were  not  more  merciful  than 
enemies.  The  neglected  farms,  the  destruction  of  the 
crops,  and  the  numerous  armies  which  overran  the  ex- 
hausted country,  were  inevitably  followed  by  scarcity 
and  the  high  price  of  provisions,  which  in  the  later  years 
was  still  further  increased  by  a  general  failure  in  the  crops. 
The  crowding  together  of  men  in  camps  and  quarters  — 
want  upon  one  side  and  excesses  on  the  other,  occasioned 
contagious  distempers,  which  were  more  fatal  than  even 
the  sword.  In  this  long  and  general  confusion  all  the 
bonds  of  social  life  were  broken  up ;  —  respect  for  the 
rights  of  their  fellow-men,  the  fear  of  the  laws,  purity  of 
morals,  honor,  and  religion  were  laid  aside  where  might 
ruled  supreme  with  iron  sceptre.  Under  the  shelter  of 
anarchy  and  impunity  every  vice  flourished,  and  men 
became  as  wild  as  the  country.  No  .station  was  too 
dignified  for  outrage,  no  property  too  holy  for  rapine  and 
avarice.  In  a  word,  the  soldier  reigned  supreme ;  and 
that  most  brutal  of  despots  often  made  his  own  officer 
feel  his  power.  The  leader  of  an  army  was  a  far  more 
important  person  within  any  country  where  he  appeared 
than  its  lawful  governor,  who  was  frequently  obliged  to 
fly  before  him  into  his  own  castles  for  safety.  Germany 
swarmed  with  these  petty  tyrants,  and  the  country  suffered 
equally  from  its  enemies  and  its  protectors.  These  wounds 
rankled  the  deeper  when  the  unhappy  victims  recollected 
that  Germany  was  sacrificed  to  the  ambition  of  foreign 
powers,  who  for  their  own  ends  prolonged  the  miseries 
of  war.  Germany  bled  under  the  scourge  to  extend  the 
conquests  and  influence  of  Sweden  ;  and  the  torch  of 
discord  was  kept  alive  within  the  Empire  that  the 
services  of  Richelieu  might  be  rendered  indispensable  in 
France. 

But  in  truth  it  was  not  merely  interested  voices  which 
opposed  a  peace  ;  and  if  both  Sweden  and  the  German 
States  were  anxious  from  corrupt  motives  to  prolong  the 
conflict  they  were  seconded  in  their  views  by  sound 
policy.  After  the  defeat  of  Nordlingen  an  equitable 
peace  was  not  to  be  expected  from  the  Emperor;  and 
this  being  the  case,  was  it  not  too  great  a  sacrifice,  after 
seventeen  years  of  war  with  all  its  miseries,  to  abandon 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  327 

the  contest,  not  only  without  advantage,  but  even  with 
loss  ?  What  would  avail  so  much  bloodshed  if  all  was  to 
remain  as  it  had  been  ;  if  their  rights  and  pretensions 
were  neither  larger  nor  safer ;  if  all  that  had  been  won 
with  so  much  difficulty  was  to  be  surrendered  for  a  peace 
at  any  cost?  Would  it  not  be  better  to  endure  for  two 
or  three  years  more  the  burdens  they  had  borne  so  long, 
and  to  reap  at  last  some  recompense  for  twenty  years  of 
suffering  ?  Neither  was  it  doubtful  that  peace  might  at 
last  be  obtained  on  favorable  terms,  if  only  the  Swedes 
and  the  German  Protestants  should  continue  united  in  the 
cabinet  and  in  the  field,  and  pursued  their  common  in- 
terests with  a  reciprocal  sympathy  and  zeal.  Their 
divisions  alone  had  rendered  the  enemy  formidable,  and 
protracted  the  acquisition  of  a  lasting  and  general  peace. 
And  this  great  evil  the  Elector  of  Saxony  had  brought 
upon  the  Protestant  cause  by  concluding  a  separate  treaty 
with  Austria. 

He,  indeed,  had  commenced  his  negotiations  with  the 
Emperor  even  before  the  battle  of  Xordlingen  ;  and  the 
unfortunate  issue  of  that  battle  only  accelerated  their  con- 
clusion. By  it  all  his  confidence  in  the  Swedes  was  lost ; 
and  it  was  even  doubted  whether  they  would  ever  recover 
from  the  blow.  The  jealousies  among  their  generals,  the 
insubordination  of  the  army,  and  the  exhaustion  of  the 
Swedish  kingdom,  shut  out  any  reasonable  prospect  of 
effective  assistance  on  their  part.  The  Elector  hastened, 
therefore,  to  profit  by  the  Emperor's  magnanimity,  who, 
even  after  the  battle  of  Xordlingen,  did  not  recall  the 
conditions  previously  offered.  While  Oxenstiern,  who 
had  assembled  the  estates  in  Frankfort,  made  further 
demands  upon  them  and  him,  the  Emperor,  on  the  con- 
trary, made  concessions ;  and  therefore  it  required  no 
long  consideration  to  decide  between  them. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  he  was  anxious  to  escape 
the  charge  of  sacrificing  the  common  cause  and  attending 
only  to  his  own  interests.  All  the  German  States,  and 
even  the  Swedes,  were  publicly  invited  to  become  parties 
to  this  peace,  although  Saxony  and  the  Emperor  were 
the  only  powers  who  deliberated  upon  it,  and  who  assumed 
the  right  to  give  law  to  Germany.  By  this  self-appointed 


328  THE   THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

tribunal  the  grievances  of  the  Protestants  were  discussed, 
their  rights  and  privileges  decided,  and  even  the  fate  of 
religions  determined  without  the  presence  of  those  who 
were  most  deeply  interested  in  it.  Between  them  a 
general  peace  was  resolved  on,  and  it  was  to  be  enforced 
by  an  imperial  army  of  execution  as  a  formal  decree  of 
the  Empire.  Whoever  opposed  it  was  to  be  treated  as 
a  public  enemy ;  and  thus,  contrary  to  their  rights,  the 
states  were  to  be  compelled  to  acknowledge  a  law  in  the 
passing  of  which  they  had  no  share.  Thus,  even  in  form, 
the  pacification  at  Prague  was  an  arbitrary  measure ;  nor 
was  it  less  so  in  its  contents.  The  Edict  of  Restitution 
had  been  the  chief  cause  of  dispute  between  the  Elector 
and  the  Emperor ;  and  therefore  it  was  first  considered  in 
their  deliberations.  Without  formally  annulling  it,  it 
was  determined  by  the  treaty  of  Prague  that  all  the  ecclesi- 
astical domains  holding  immediately  of  the  Empire,  and, 
among  the  mediate  ones,  those  which  had  been  seized  by 
the  Protestants  subsequently  to  the  treaty  at  Passau, 
should  for  forty  years  remain  in  the  same  position  as 
they  had  been  in  before  the  Edict  of  Restitution,  but 
without  any  formal  decision  of  the  Diet  to  that  effect. 
Before  the  expiration  of  this  term  a  commission,  composed 
of  equal  numbers  of  both  religions,  should  proceed  to  settle 
the  matter  peaceably  and  according  to  law  ;  and  if  this 
commission  should  be  unable  to  come  to  a  decision  each 
party  should  remain  in  possession  of  the  rights  which  it 
had  exercised  before  the  Edict  of  Restitution.  This  ar- 
rangement, therefore,  far  from  removing  the  grounds  of 
dissension,  only  suspended  the  dispute  for  a  time;  and 
this  article  of  the  treaty  of  Prague  only  covered  the 
embers  of  a  future  war. 

The  Archbishopric  of  Magdeburg  remained  in  posses- 
sion of  Prince  Augustus  of  Saxony,  and  Halberstadt  in 
that  of  the  Archduke  Leopold  William.  Four  estates 
were  taken  from  the  territory  of  Magdeburg  and  given 
to  Saxony,  for  which  the  Administrator  of  Magdeburg, 
Christian  William  of  Brandenburg,  was  otherwise  to  be 
indemnified.  The  Dukes  of  Mecklenburg,  upon  acceding 
to  this  treaty,  were  to  be  acknowledged  as  rightful  pos- 
sessors of  their  territories,  in  which  the  magnanimity  of 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS*   WAR.  329 

Gustavus  Adolphus  had  long  ago  reinstated  them.  Do- 
nau  \verth  recovered  its  liberties.  The  important  claims 
of  the  heirs  of  the  Palatine,  however  important  it  might 
be  for  the  Protestant  cause  not  to  lose  this  electorate  vote 
in  the  Diet,  were  passed  over  in  consequence  of  the  ani- 
mosity subsisting  between  the  Lutherans  and  the  Cal- 
vinists.  All  the  conquests  which,  in  the  course  of  the 
war,  had  been  made  by  the  German  States,  or  by  the 
League  and  the  Emperor,  were  to  be  mutually  restored ; 
all  which  had  been  appropriated  by  the  foreign  powers  of 
France  and  Sweden  was  to  be  forcibly  wrested  from 
them  by  the  united  powers.  The  troops  of  the  contract- 
ing parties  were  to  be  formed  into  one  imperial  army, 
which,  supported  and  paid  by  the  Empire,  was,  by  force 
of  arms,  to  carry  into  execution  the  covenants  of  the 
treaty. 

As  the  peace  of  Prague  was  intended  to  serve  as  a 
general  law  of  the  Empire,  those  points  which  did  not 
immediately  affect  the  latter  formed  the  subject  of  a 
separate  treaty.  By  it  Lusatia  was  ceded  to  the  Elector 
of  Saxony  as  a  fief  of  Bohemia,  and  special  articles  guar- 
anteed the  freedom  of  religion  of  this  country  and  of 
Silesia. 

All  the  Protestant  states  were  invited  to  accede  to  the 
treaty  of  Prague,  and  on  that  condition  were  to  benefit 
by  the  amnesty.  The  Princes  of  Wurtemberg  and  Baden, 
whose  territories  the  Emperor  was  already  in  possession 
of,  and  which  he  was  not  disposed  to  restore  uncondi- 
tionally ;  and  such  vassals  of  Austria  as  had  borne  arms 
against  their  sovereign ;  and  those  states  which,  under 
the  direction  of  Oxenstiern,  composed  the  council  of  the 
tTpper  German  Circle,  were  excluded  from  the  treaty, — 
not  so  much  with  the  view  of  continuing  the  war  against 
them  as  of  compelling  them  to  purchase  peace  at  a  dearer 
rate.  Their  territories  were  to  be  retained  in  pledge  till 
everything  should  be  restored  to  its  former  footing.  Such 
was  the  treaty  of  Prague.  Equal  justice,  however,  towards 
all  might  perhaps  have  restored  confidence  between  the 
head  of  the  Empire  and  its  members — between  the 
Protestants  and  the  Roman  Catholics — between  the 
Reformed  and  the  Lutheran  party;  and  the  Swedes, 


330  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

abandoned  by  all  their  allies,  would  in  all  probability 
have  been  driven  from  Germany  with  disgrace.  But  this 
inequality  strengthened  in  those  who  were  more  severely 
treated  the  spirit  of  mistrust  and  opposition,  and  made 
it  an  easier  task  for  the  Swedes  to  keep  alive  the  flames 
of  war  and  to  maintain  a  party  in  Germany. 

The  peace  of  Prague,  as  might  have  been  expected,  was 
received  with  very  various  feelings  throughout  Germany. 
The  attempt  to  conciliate  both  parties  had  rendered  it 
obnoxious  to  both.  The  Protestants  complained  of  the 
restraints  imposed  upon  them ;  the  Roman  Catholics 
thought  that  these  hated  sectaries  had  been  favored  at 
the  expense  of  the  true  church.  In  the  opinion  of  the 
latter  the  church  had  been  deprived  of  its  inalienable 
rights  by  the  concession  to  the  Protestants  of  forty  years' 
undisturbed  possession  of  the  ecclesiastical  benefices ; 
while  the  former  murmured  that  the  interests  of  the 
Protestant  church  had  been  betrayed  because  toleration 
had  not  been  granted  to  their  coreligionists  in  the 
Austrian  dominions.  But  no  one  was  so  bitterly  re- 
proached as  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  who  was  publicly 
denounced  as  a  deserter,  a  traitor  to  religion  and  the 
liberties  of  the  Empire,  and  a  confederate  of  the  Em- 
peror. 

In  the  meantime  he  consoled  himself  with  the  triumph  of 
seeing  most  of  the  Protestant  states  compelled  by  neces- 
sity to  embrace  this  peace.  The  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
Duke  William  of  Weimar,  the  Princes  of  Anhalt,the  Dukes 
of  Mecklenburg,  the  Dukes  of  Brunswick-Lunenburg,  the 
Hanse  towns,  and  most  of  the  imperial  cities  acceded 
to  it.  The  Landgrave  William  of  Hesse  long  wavered,  or 
affected  to  do  so,  in  order  to  gain  time  and  to  regulate  his 
measures  by  the  course  of  events.  He  had  conquered 
several  fertile  provinces  of  Westphalia,  and  derived  from 
them  principally  the  means  of  continuing  the  war :  these, 
by  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  he  was  bound  to  restore. 
Bernard,  Duke  of  Weimar,  whose  states  as  yet  existed 
only  on  paper,  as  a  belligerent  power  was  not  affected  by 
the  treaty,  but  as  a  general  was  so  materially ;  and  in 
either  view  he  must  equally  be  disposed  to  reject  it.  His 
ivhole  riches  consisted  in  his  bravery,  his  possessions  in 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  331 

his  sword.  War  alone  gave  him  greatness  and  importance, 
and  war  alone  could  realize  the  projects  which  his  ambition 
suggested. 

But  of  all  who  declaimed  against  the  treaty  of  Prague 
none  were  so  loud  in  their  clamors  as  the  Swedes,  and 
none  had  so  much  reason  for  their  opposition.  Invited  to 
Germany  by  the  Germans  themselves,  the  champions  of 
the  Protestant  church  and  the  freedom  of  the  states 
which  they  had  defended  with  so  much  bloodshed  and 
with  the  sacred  life  of  their  king,  they  now  saw  them- 
selves suddenly  and  shamefully  abandoned,  disappointed 
in  all  their  hopes,  without  reward  and  without  gratitude 
driven  from  the  empire  for  which  they  had  toiled  and 
bled,  and  exposed  to  the  ridicule  of  the  enemy  by  the  very 
princes  who  owed  everything  to  them.  No  satisfaction, 
no  indemnification  for  the  expenses  which  they  had  in- 
curred, no  equivalent  for  the  conquests  which  they  were 
to*  leave  behind  them,  was  provided  by  the  treaty  of 
Prague.  They  were  to  be  dismissed  poorer  than  they 
came,  or  if  they  resisted  to  be  expelled  by  the  very  powers 
who  had  invited  them.  The  Elector  of  Saxony  at  last 
spoke  of  a  pecuniary  indemnification,  and  mentioned  the 
small  sum  of  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  florins  ; 
but  the  Swedes  had  already  expended  considerably  more, 
and  this  disgraceful  equivalent  in  money  was  both  con- 
trary to  their  true  interests  and  injurious  to  their  pride. 
"  The  Electors  of  Bavaria  and  Saxony,"  replied  Oxen- 
stiern,  "have  been  paid  for  their  services,  which,  as  vas- 
sals, they  were  bound  to  render  the  Emperor,  with  the 
possession  of  important  provinces ;  and  shall  we  who  have 
sacrificed  our  king  for  Germany  be  dismissed  with  the 
miserable  sum  of  two  million  five  hundred  thousand 
florins?"  The  disappointment  of  their  expectations  was 
the  more  severe  because  the  Swedes  had  calculated  upon 
being  recompensed  with  the  Duchy  of  Pomerania,  the 
present  possessor  of  which  was  old  and  without  heirs. 
But  the  succession  of  this  territory  was  confirmed  by  the 
treaty  of  Prague  to  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg;  and  all 
the  neighboring  powers  declared  against  allowing  the 
Swedes  to  obtain  a  footing  within  the  empire. 

Never  in  the  whole  course  of  the  war  had  the  prospects 


332  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

of  the  Swedes  looked  more  gloomy  than  in  the  year  1635, 
immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  of  Prague. 
Many  of  their  allies,  particularly  among  the  free  cities, 
abandoned  them  to  benefit  by  the  peace ;  others  were 
compelled  to  accede  to  it  by  the  victorious  arms  of  the 
Emperor.  Augsburg,  subdued  by  famine,  surrendered 
under  the  severest  conditions;  Wurtzburg  and  Coburg 
were  lost  to  the  Austrians.  The  League  of  Heilbronn 
was  formally  dissolved.  Nearly  the  whole  of  Upper 
Germany,  the  chief  seat  of  the  Swedish  power,  was  re- 
duced under  the  Emperor.  Saxony  on  the  strength  of  the 
treaty  of  Prague  demanded  the  evacuation  of  Thuringia, 
Halberstadt,  and  Magdeburg.  Philipsburg,  the  military 
depot  of  France,  was  surprised  by  the  Austrians  with  all 
the  stores  it  contained ;  and  this  severe  loss  checked  the 
activity  of  France.  To  complete  the  embarrassments  of 
Sweden  the  truce  with  Poland  was  drawing  to  a  close. 
To  support  a  war  at  the  same  time  with  Poland  and  in 
Germany  was  far  beyond  the  power  of  Sweden ;  and  all 
that  remained  was  to  choose  between  them.  Pride  and 
ambition  declared  in  favor  of  continuing  the  German  war 
at  whatever  sacrifice  on  the  side  of  Poland.  An  army 
however  was  necessary  to  command  the  respect  of  Poland 
and  to  give  weight  to  Sweden  in  any  negotiations  for  a 
truce  or  a  peace. 

The  mind  of  Oxenstiern,  firm  and  inexhaustible  in  expe- 
dients, set  itself  manfully  to  meet  these  calamities  which 
all  combined  to  overwhelm  Sweden ;  and  his  shrewd  un- 
derstanding taught  him  how  to  turn  even  misfortunes  to 
his  advantage.  The  defection  of  so  many  German  cities 
of  the  empire  deprived  him,  it  is  true,  of  a  great  part  of 
his  former  allies,  but  at  the  same  time  it  freed  him  from 
the  necessity  of  paying  any  regard  to  their  interests.  The 
more  the  number  of  his  enemies  increased  the  more  prov- 
inces and  magazines  were  opened  to  his  troops.  The 
gross  ingratitude  of  the  states  and  the  haughty  contempt 
with  which  the  Emperor  behaved  (who  did  not  even 
condescend  to  treat  directly  with  him  about  a  peace), 
excited  in  him  the  courage  of  despair  and  a  noble  deter- 
mination to  maintain  the  struggle  to  the  last.  The  con- 
tinuance of  war,  however  unfortunate  it  might  prove,  could 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  333 

not  render  the  situation  of  Sweden  worse  than  it  now 
was ;  and  if  Germany  was  to  be  evacuated  it  was  at  least 
better  and  nobler  to  do  so  sword  in  hand,  and  to  yield  to 
force  rather  than  to  fear. 

In  the  extremity  in  which  the  Swedes  were  now  placed 
by  the  desertion  of  their  allies  they  addressed  themselves 
to  France,  who  met  them  with  the  greatest  encouragement. 

o  o 

The  interest  of  the  two  crowns  were  closely  united,  and 
France  would  have  injured  herself  by  allowing  the  Swedish 
power  in  Germany  to  decline.  The  helpless  situation  of 
the  Swedes  was  rather  an  additional  motive  with  France 
to  cement  more  closely  their  alliance,  and  to  take  a  more 
active  part  in  the  German  war.  Since  the  alliance  with 
Sweden  at  Beerwald,  in  1632,  France  had  maintained  the 
Avar  against  the  Emperor  by  the  arms  of  Gustavus  Adol- 
phus,  without  any  open  or  formal  breach,  by  furnishing 
subsidies  and  increasing  the  number  of  his  enemies.  But 
alarmed  at  the  unexpected  rapidity  and  success  of  the 
Swedish  arms,  France,  in  anxiety  to  restore  the  balance 
of  power  which  was  disturbed  by  the  preponderance  of 
the  Swedes,  seemed  for  a  time  to  have  lost  sight  of  her 
original  designs.  She  endeavored  to  protect  the  Roman 
Catholic  princes  of  the  empire  against  the  Swedish  con- 
queror by  the  treaties  of  neutrality,  and  when  this  plan 
failed  she  even  meditated  herself  to  declare  war  against 
him.  But  no  sooner  had  the  death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
and  the  desperate  situation  of  the  Swedish  affairs,  dis- 
pelled this  apprehension,  than  she  returned  with  fresh  zeal 
to  her  first  design,  and  readily  afforded  in  this  misfortune 
the  aid  which  in  the  hour  of  success  she  had  refused. 
Freed  from  the  checks  which  the  ambition  and  vigilance 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus  placed  upon  her  plans  of  aggrand- 
izement, France  availed  herself  of  the  favorable  oppor- 
tunity afforded  by  the  defeat  of  Nordlingen  to  obtain  the 
entire  direction  of  the  war,  and  to  prescribe  laws  to  those 
who  sued  for  her  powerful  protection.  The  moment 
seemed  to  smile  upon  her  boldest  plans,  and  those  which 
had  formerly  seemed  chimerical  now  appeared  to  be  jus- 
tified by  circumstances.  She  now  turned  her  whole  at- 
tention to  the  war  in  Germany ;  and  as  soon  as  she  had 
secured  her  own  private  ends  by  a  treaty  with  the  Ger- 


334  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

mans  she  suddenly  entered  the  political  arena  as  an  active 
and  a  commanding  power.  While  the  other  belligerent 
states  had  been  exhausting  themselves  in  a  tedious  con- 
test, France  had  been  reserving  her  strength  and  main- 
tained the  contest  by  money  alone;  but  now,  when  the 
state  of  things  called  for  more  active  measures,  she  seized 

O  ' 

the  sword  and  astonished  Europe  by  the  boldness  and 
magnitude  of  her  undertakings.  At  the  same  moment 
she  fitted  out  two  fleets  and  sent  six  different  armies  into 
the  field,  while  she  subsidized  a  foreign  crown  and  several 
of  the  German  princes.  Animated  by  this  powerful  co- 
operation, the  Swedes  and  Germans  awoke  from  the  con- 
sternation, and  hoped,  sword  in  hand,  to  obtain  a  more 
honorable  peace  than  that  of  Prague.  Abandoned  by 
their  confederates,  who  had  been  reconciled  to  the  Em- 
peror, they  formed  a  still  closer  alliance  with  France, 
which  increased  her  support  with  their  growing  necessities, 
at  the  same  time  taking  a  more  active  although  secret 
share  in  the  German  war,  until  at  last  she  threw  off  the 
mask  altogether,  and  in  her  own  name  made  an  unequiv- 
ocal declaration  of  war  against  the  Emperor. 

To  leave  Sweden  at  full  liberty  to  act  against  Austria, 
France  commenced  her  operations  by  liberating  it  from 
all  fear  of  a  Polish  war.  By  means  of  the  Count  d'Avaux, 
its  minister,  an  agreement  was  concluded  between  the  two 
powers  at  Stummsdorf  in  Prussia,  by  which  the  truce  was 
prolonged  for  twenty-six  years,  though  not  without  a 
great  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  Swedes,  who  ceded  by 
a  single  stroke  of  the  pen  almost  the  whole  of  Polish 
Prussia,  the  dear-bought  conquest  of  Gustavus  Adolphus. 
The  treaty  of  Beerwald  was,  with  certain  modifications, 
which  circumstances  rendered  necessary,  renewed  at  dif- 
ferent times  at  Compiegne,  and  afterwards  atWismarand 
Hamburg.  France  had  already  come  to  a  rupture  with 
Spain  in  May,  1635,  and  the  vigorous  attack  which  it 
made  upon  that  power  deprived  the  Emperor  of  his  most 
valuable  auxiliaries  from  the  Netherlands.  By  supporting 
the  Landgrave  William  of  Cassel  and  Duke  Bernard  of 
Weimar  the  Swedes  were  enabled  to  act  with  more  vigor 
upon  the  Elbe  and  the  Danube,  and  a  diversion  upon  the 
Rhine  compelled  the  Emperor  to  divide  his  force. 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  335 

At  length  the  Elector,  having  formed  a  junction  with 
the  Imperial  General  Hatzfeld,  advanced  against  Magde- 
burg, which  Banner  in  vain  hastened  to  relieve.  The 
united  army  of  the  Imperialists  and  the  Saxons  now 
spread  itself  over  Brandenburg,  wrested  several  places 
from  the  Swedes,  and  almost  drove  them  to  the  Baltic. 
But,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  Banner,  who  had  been 
given  up  as  lost,  attacked  the  allies  on  the  24th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1636,  at  Wittstock,  where  a  bloody  battle  took 
place.  The  onset  was  terrific,  and  the  whole  force  of  the 
enemy  was  directed  against  the  right  wing  of  the  Swedes, 
which  was  led  by  Banner  in  person.  The  contest  was 
long  maintained  with  equal  animosity  and  obstinacy  on 
both  sides.  There  was  not  a  squadron  among  the  Swedes 
which  did  not  return  ten  times  to  the  charge,  to  be  as 
often  repulsed,  when  at  last  Banner  was  obliged  to  retire 
before  the  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy.  His  left  wing 
sustained  the  combat  until  night,  and  the  second  line  of 
the  Swedes,  which  had  not  as  yet  been  engaged,  was  pre- 
pared to  renew  it  the  next  morning.  But  the  Elector 
did  not  wait  for  a  second  attack.  His  army  was  ex- 
hausted by  the  efforts  of  the  preceding  day ;  and  as  the 
drivers  had  fled  with  the  horses  his  artillery  was  un- 
serviceable. He  accordingly  retreated  in  the  night  with 
Count  Hatzfeld  and  relinquished  the  ground  to  the 
Swedes.  About  five  thousand  of  the  allies  fell  upon  the 
field,  exclusive  of  those  who  were  killed  in  the  pursuit, 
or  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  exasperated  peasantry. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  standards  and  colors,  twenty- 
three  pieces  of  cannon,  the  whole  baggage  and  silver 
plate  of  the  Elector  were  captured,  and  more  than  two 
thousand  men  taken  prisoners.  This  brilliant  victory, 
achieved  over  an  enemy  far  superior  in  numbers,  and  in 
a  very  advantageous  position,  restored  the  Swedes  at  once 
to  their  former  reputation ;  their  enemies  were  discour- 
aged and  their  friends  inspired  with  new  hopes.  Banner 
instantly  followed  up  this  decisive  success,  and,  hastily 
crossing  the  Elbe,  drove  the  Imperialists  before  him 
through  Thuringia  and  Hesse  into  Westphalia.  He  then 
returned  and  took  up  his  winter  quarters  in  Saxony. 

But,  without  the  material  aid  furnished  by  the  diver- 


336  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

sion  upon  the  Rhine,  and  the  activity  there  of  Duke 
Bernard  and  the  French,  these  important  successes  would 
have  been  unattainable.  Duke  Bernard,  after  the  defeat 
of  Nordliugeu,  reorganized  his  broken  army  at  Wetterau, 
but,  abandoned  by  the  confederates  of  the  League  of 
Heilbronn,  which  had  been  dissolved  by  the  peace  of 
Prague,  and  receiving  but  little  support  from  the  Swedes, 
he  found  himself  unable  to  maintain  an  army  or  to  per- 
form any  enterprise  of  importance.  The  defeat  at  Nord- 
lingen  had  terminated  all  his  hopes  on  the  Duchy  of 
Franconia,  while  the  weakness  of  the  Swedes  destroyed 
the  chance  of  retrieving  his  fortunes  through  their  assist- 
ance. Tired,  too,  of  the  constraint  imposed  upon  him  by 
the  imperious  chancellor,  he  turned  his  attention  to 
France,  who  could  easily  supply  him  with  money,  the 
only  aid  which  he  required ;  and  France  readily  acceded 
to  his  proposals.  Richelieu  desired  nothing  so  much  as 
to  diminish  the  influence  of  the  Swedes  in  the  German 
war,  and  to  obtain  the  direction  of  it  for  himself.  To 
secure  this  end  nothing  appeared  more  effectual  than  to 
detach  from  the  Swedes  their  bravest  general,  to  win  him 
to  the  interests  of  France,  and  to  secure  for  the  execu- 
tion of  its  projects  the  services  of  his  arm.  From  a  prince 
like  Bernard,  who  could  not  maintain  himself  without 
foreign  support,  France  had  nothing  to  fear,  since  no 
success,  however  brilliant,  could  render  him  independent 
of  that  crown.  Bernard  himself  came  into  France,  and 
in  October,  1635,  concluded  a  treaty  at  St.  Germaine  en 
Laye,  not  as  a  Swedish  general,  but  in  his  own  name,  by 
which  it  was  stipulated  that  he  should  receive  for  himself  a 
yearly  pension  of  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  livres, 
and  four  millions  for  the  support  of  his  army,  which  lie  was 
to  command  under  orders  of  the  French  king.  To  in- 
flame his  zeal,  and  to  accelerate  the  conquest  of  Alsace, 
France  did  not  hesitate,  by  a  secret  article,  to  promise 
him  that  province  for  his  services;  a  promise  which 
Richelieu  had  little  intention  of  performing,  and  which 
the  duke  also  estimated  at  its  real  worth.  But  Bernnr;! 
confided  in  his  good  fortune  and  in  his  arms,  and  rm  t 
artifice  with  dissimulation.  If  he  could  once  succeed  in 
wresting  Alsace  from  the  enemy  he  did  not  despair  of 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  337 

being  able,  in  case  of  need,  to  maintain  it  also  against  a 
friend.  He  now  raised  an  army  at  the  expense  of  France, 
which  he  commanded  nominally  under  the  orders  of  that 
power,  but  in  reality  without  any  limitation  whatever, 
and  without  having  wholly  abandoned  his  engagements 
with  Sweden.  He  began  his  operations  upon  the  Rhine, 
where  another  French  army,  under  Cardinal  Lavalette, 
had  already,  in  1635,  commenced  hostilities  against  the 
Emperor. 

Against  this  force  the  main  body  of  the  Imperialists, 
after  the  great  victory  of  Nordlingen  and  the  reduction 
of  Swabia  and  Franconia,  had  advanced  under  the  com- 
mand of  Gallas,  had  driven  them  as  far  as  Metz,  cleared 
the  Rhine,  and  took  from  the  Swedes  the  towns  of  Mentz 
and  Frankenthal,  of  which  they  were  in  possession.  But 
frustrated  by  the  vigorous  resistance  of  the  French  in  his 
main  object,  of  taking  up  his  winter  quarters  in  France, 
he  led  back  his  exhausted  troops  into  Alsace  and  Swabia. 
At  the  opening  of  the  next  campaign  he  passed  the 
Rhine  at  Breysach  and  prepared  to  carry  the  war  into 
the  interior  of  France.  He  actually  entered  Burgundy, 
while  the  Spaniards  from  the  Netherlands  made  progress 
in  Picardy  ;  and  John  De  Werth,  a  formidable  general 
of  the  League  and  a  celebrated  partisan,  pushed  his 
march  into  Champagne  and  spread  consternation  even  to 
the  gates  of  Paris.  But  an  insignificant  fortress  in 
Franche  Comte  completely  checked  the  Imperialists, 
and  they  were  obliged  a  second  time  to  abandon  their 
enterprise. 

The  activity  of  Duke  Bernard  had  hitherto  been  im- 
peded by  his  dependence  on  a  French  general  more 
suited  to  the  priestly  robe  than  to  the  baton  of  command  ; 
and  although  in  conjunction  with  him  he  conquered 
Alsace  Saverne  he  found  himself  unable  in  the  years 
1636  and  1637  to  maintain  his  position  upon  the  Rhine. 
The  ill-success  of  the  French  arms  in  the  Netherlands 
had  checked  the  activity  of  operations  in  Alsace  and 
Breisgau,  but  in  1638  the  war  in  that  quarter  took  a  more 
brilliant  turn.  Relieved  from  his  former  restraint,  and 
witlrunlimited  command  of  his  troops,  Duke  Bernard  in 
the  beginning  of  February  left  his  winter  quarters  in  the 


338  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

Bishopric  of  Basle  and  unexpectedly  appeared  upon  the 
Rhine,  where  at  this  rude  season  of  the  year  an  attack 
was  little  anticipated.  The  forest  towns  of  Laufeuburg, 
Waldshut,  and  Seckiugen  were  surprised  and  Rhinefeldt 
besieged.  The  Duke  of  Savelli,  the  imperial  general 
who  commanded  in  that  quarter,  hastened  by  forced 
marches  to  the  relief  of  this  important  place,  succeeded 
in  raising  the  siege,  and  compelled  the  Duke  of  Weimar, 
with  great  loss,  to  retire.  But,  contrary  to  all  human 
expectation,  he  appeared  on  the  third  day  after  (21st  Feb- 
ruary, 1638)  before  the  Imperialists  in  order  of  battle, 
and  defeated  them  in  a  bloody  engagement,  in  which  the 
four  imperial  generals,  Savelli,  John  De  Werth,  Enke- 
ford,  and  Sperreuter,  with  two  thousand  men,  were  taken 
prisoners.  Two  of  these,  De  Werth  and  Enkeford,  were 
afterwards  sent  by  Richelieu's  orders  into  France  in  order 
to  flatter  the  vanity  of  the  French  by  the  sight  of  such 
distinguished  prisoners,  and  by  the  pomp  of  military 
trophies  to  withdraw  the  attention  of  the  populace  from 
the  public  distress.  The  captured  standards  and  colors 
were,  with  the  same  view,  carried  in  solemn  procession 
to  the  church  of  Notre  Dame,  thrice  exhibited  before  the 
altar,  and  committed  to  sacred  custody. 

The  war  was  now  prosecuted  with  increasing  activity. 
By  the  treaty  of  Prague  the  Emperor  had  lessened  the 
number  of  his  adversaries  within  the  Empire ;  though  at 
the  same  time  the  zeal  and  activity  of  his  foreign  enemies 
had  been  augmented  by  it.  In  Germany  his  influence 
was  almost  unlimited,  for,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
states,  he  had  rendered  himself  absolute  master  of  the 
German  body  and  its  resources,  and  was  again  enabled  to 
act  in  the  character  of  emperor  and  sovereign.  The  first 
fruit  of  his  power  was  the  elevation  of  his  son,  Ferdinand 
III.,  to  the  dignity  of  King  of  the  Romans,  to  which  lie 
was  elected  by  a  decided  majority  of  votes  notwithstand- 
ing the  opposition  of  Treves  and  of  the  heirs  of  the 
Elector  Palatine.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  had  exas- 
perated the  Swedes  to  desperation,  had  armed  the  power 
of  France  against  him,  and  drawn  its  troops  into  the 
heart  of  the  kingdom.  France  and  Sweden,  with  their 
German  allies,  formed  from  this  moment  one  firm  and 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  339 

% 

compactly-united  power ;  the  Emperor,  with  the  German 
states  which  adhered  to  him,  were  equally  firm  and  united. 
The  Swedes,  who  no  longer  fought  for  Germany  but  for 
their  own  lives,  showed  no  more  indulgence;  relieved 
from  the  necessity  of  consulting  their  German  allies,  or 
accounting  to  them  for  the  plans  which  they  adopted, 
they  acted  with  more  precipitation,  rapidity,  and  boldness. 
Battles,  though  less  decisive,  became  more  obstinate  and 
bloody ;  greater  achievements,  both  in  bravery  and  mili- 
tary skill,  were  performed ;  but  they  were  but  insulated 
efforts;  and  being  neither  dictated  by  any  consistent 
plan  nor  improved  by  any  commanding  spirit,  had  com- 
paratively little  influence  upon  the  course  of  the  war. 

Saxony  had  bound  herself  by  the  treaty  of  Prague  to 
expel  the  Swedes  from  Germany.  From  this  moment 
the  banners  of  the  Saxons  and  Imperialists  were  united ; 
the  former  confederates  were  converted  into  implacable 
enemies.  The  Archbishopric  of  Magdeburg,  which  by  the 
treaty  was  ceded  to  the  Prince  of  Saxony,  was  still  held 
by  the  Swedes,  and  every  attempt  to  acquire  it  by  nego- 
tiations had  proved  ineffectual.  Hostilities  commenced 
by  the  Elector  of  Saxony  recalling  all  his  subjects  from 
the  army  of  Banner,  which  was  encamped  upon  the  Elbe. 
The  officers,  long  irritated  by  the  accumulation  of  their 
arrears,  obeyed  the  summons  and  evacuated  one  quarter 
after  another.  As  the  Saxons  at  the  same  time  made  a 
movement  towards  Mecklenburg  to  take  Domitz,  and  to 
drive  the  Swedes  from  Pomerania  and  the  Baltic,  Banner 
suddenly  marched  thither,  relieved  Domitz  and  totally 
defeated  the  Saxon  General  Baudissin,  with  seven  thou- 
sand men,  of  whom  one  thousand  were  slain,  and  about 
the  same  number  taken  prisoners.  Reinforced  by  the 
troops  and  artillery  which  had  hitherto  been  employed 
in  Polish  Prussia,  but  which  the  treaty  of  Stummsdorf 
rendered  unnecessary,  this  brave  and  impetuous  general 
made  the  following  year  (1636)  a  sudden  inroad  into  the 
Electorate  of  Saxony,  where  he  gratified  his  inveterate 
hatred  of  the  Saxons  by  the  most  destructive  ravages. 
Irritated  by  the  memory  of  old  grievances  which,  during 
their  common  campaigns,  he  and  the  Swedes  had  suffered 
from  the  haughtiness  of  the  Saxons,  and  now  exasperated 


340  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

to  the  utmost  by  the  late  defection  of  the  Elector,  they 
wreaked  upon  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  all  their  ran- 
cor. Against  Austria  and  Bavaria  the  Swedish  soldier 
had  fought  from  a  sense,  as  it  were,  of  duty ;  but  against 
the  Saxons  they  contended  with  all  the  energy  of  private 
animosity  and  personal  revenge,  detesting  them  as  de- 
serters and  traitors ;  for  the  hatred  of  former  friends  is 
of  all  the  most  fierce  and  irreconcilable.  The  powerful 
diversion  made  by  the  Duke  of  Weimar  and  the  Land- 
grave of  Hesse  upon  the  Rhine  and  in  Westphalia  pre- 
vented the  Emperor  from  affording  the  necessary  assist- 
ance to  Saxony,  and  left  the  whole  Electorate  exposed  to 
the  destructive  ravages  of  Banner's  army. 

The  taking  of  Rhinefeldt,  Roteln,  and  Fribourg  was 
the  immediate  consequence  of  the  duke's  victory.  His 
army  now  increased  by  considerable  recruits,  and  his  pro- 
jects expanded  in  proportion  as  fortune  favored  him. 
The  fortress  of  Breysach  upon  the  Rhine  was  looked 
upon  as  holding  the  command  of  that  river  and  as  the 
key  of  Alsace.  No  place  in  this  quarter  was  of  more 
importance  to  the  Emperor,  and  upon  none  had  more 
care  been  bestowed.  To  protect  Breysach  was  the  prin- 
cipal destination  of  the  Italian  army  under  the  Duke  of 
Feria ;  the  strength  of  its  works  and  its  natural  defences 
bade  defiance  to  assault,  while  the  imperial  generals  who 
commanded  in  that  quarter  had  orders  to  retain  it  at  any 
cost.  But  the  duke,  trusting  to  his  good  fortune,  re- 
solved to  attempt  the  siege.  Its  strength  rendered  it 
impregnable;  it  could,  therefore,  only  be  starved  into  a 
surrender ;  and  this  was  facilitated  by  the  carelessness  of 
the  commandant,  who,  expecting  no  attack,  had  been 
selling  off  his  stores.  As  under  these  circumstances  the 
town  could  not  long  hold  out  it  must  be  immediately 
relieved  or  victualled.  Accordingly  the  imperial  General 
Goetz  rapidly  advanced  at  the  head  of  twelve  thousand 
men,  accompanied  by  three  thousand  wagons  loaded  with 
provisions,  which  he  intended  to  throw  into  the  place. 
But  he  was  attacked  with  such  vigor  by  Duke  Bernard 
at  Witteweyer  that  he  lost  his  whole  force,  except  three 
thousand  men,  together  with  the  entire  transport.  A 
similar  fate  at  Ochsenfeld,  near  Thann,  overtook  the 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  341 

Duke  of  Lorraine,  who,  with  five  or  six  thousand 
men,  advanced  to  relieve  the  fortress.  After  a  third 
attempt  of  General  Goetz  for  the  relief  of  Breysach  had 
proved  ineffectual  the  fortress,  reduced  to  the  greatest 
extremity  by  famine,  surrendered,  after  a  blockade  of 
four  months,  on  the  17th  December,  1638,  to  its  equally 
persevering  and  humane  conqueror. 

The  capture  of  Breysach  opened  a  boundless  field  to 
the  ambition  of  the  Duke  of  Weimar,  and  the  romance  of 
his  hopes  was  fast  approaching  to  reality.  Far  from 
intending  to  surrender  his  conquests  in  France  he  des- 
tined Breysach  for  himself,  and  revealed  this  intention  by 
exacting  allegiance  from  the  vanquished  in  his  own  name, 
and  not  in  that  of  any  other  power.  Intoxicated  by  his 
past  success,  and  excited  by  the  boldest  hopes,  he  believed 
that  he  should  be  able  to  maintain  his  conquests  even 
against  France  herself.  At  a  time  when  everything 
depended  upon  bravery,  when  even  personal  strength 
was  of  importance,  when  troops  and  generals  were  of 
more  importance  than  territories,  it  was  natural  for  a 
hero  like  Bernard  to  place  confidence  in  his  own  powers, 
and,  at  the  head  of  an  excellent  army,  who  under  his 
command  had  proved  invincible,  to  believe  himself  capa- 
ble of  accomplishing  the  boldest  and  largest  designs.  In 
order  to  secure  himself  one  friend  among  the  crowd  of 
enemies  whom  he  was  about  to  provoke,  he  turned  his 
eyes  upon  the  Landgravine  Amelia  of  Hesse,  the  widow 
of  the  lately  desceased  Landgrave  William,  a  princess 
whose  talents  were  equal  to  her  courage,  and  who,  along 
with  her  hand,  would  bestow  valuable  conquests,  an 
extensive  principality,  and  a  well-disciplined  army.  By 
the  union  of  the  conquests  of  Hesse  with  his  own  upon 
the  Rhine,  and  the  junction  of  their  forces,  a  power  of 
some  importance,  and  perhaps  a  third  party,  might  be 
formed  in  Germany,  which  might  decide  the  fate  of  the 
war.  But  a  premature  death  put  a  period  to  these  extens- 
ive schemes. 

"  Courage,  Father  Joseph,  Breysach  is  ours ! "  whis- 
pered Richelieu  in  the  ear  of  the  Capuchin  who  had  long 
held  himself  in  readiness  to  be  despatched  into  that 
quarter,  so  delighted  was  he  with  this  joyful  intelligence. 


342  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

Already  in  imagination  he  held  Alsace,  Breisgau,  and  all 
the  frontiers  in  Austria  in  that  quarter  without  regard  to 
his  promise  to  Duke  Bernard.  But  the  firm  determina- 
tion which  the  latter  had  unequivocally  shown  to  keep 
Breysach  for  himself  greatly  embarrassed  the  cardinal, 
and  no  efforts  were  spared  to  retain  the  victorious  Ber- 
nard in  the  interests  of  France.  He  was  invited  to  court 
to  witness  the  honors  by  which  his  triumph  was  to  be 
commemorated;  but  he  perceived  and  shunned  the  se- 
ductive snare.  The  cardinal  even  went  so  far  as  to  offer 
him  the  hand  of  his  niece  in  marriage  ;  but  the  proud 
German  prince  declined  the  offer,  and  refused  to  sully 
the  blood  of  Saxony  by  a  misalliance.  He  was  now 
considered  as  a  dangerous  enemy  and  treated  as  such. 
His  subsidies  were  withdrawn ;  and  the  governor  of  Brey- 
sach and  his  principal  officers  were  bribed,  at  least  upon 
the  event  of  the  duke's  death,  to  take  possession  of  his 
conquests  and  to  secure  his  troops.  These  intrigues 
were  no  secret  to  the  duke,  and  the  precautions  he 
took  in  the  conquered  places  clearly  bespoke  the  distrust 
of  France.  But  this  misunderstanding  with  the  French 
court  had  the  most  prejudicial  influence  upon  his  future 
operations.  The  preparations  he  was  obliged  to  make  in 
order  to  secure  his  conquests  against  an  attack  on  the 
side  of  France  compelled  him  to  divide  his  military 
strength,  while  the  stoppage  of  his  subsidies  delayed  his 
appearance  in  the  field.  It  had  been  his  intention  to 
cross  the  Rhine,  to  support  the  Swedes,  and  to  act  against 
the  Emperor  and  Bavaria  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube. 
He  had  already  communicated  his  plan  of  operations  to 
Banner,  who  was  about  to  carry  the  war  into  the  Austrian 
territories,  and  had  promised  to  relieve  him  so,  when  a 
sudden  death  cut  short  his  heroic  career,  in  the  thirty 
sixth  year  of  his  age,  at  Neuburg  upon  the  Rhine  (in 
July,  1639). 

He  died  of  a  pestilential  disorder,  which,  in  the  course 
of  two  days,  had  carried  off  nearly  four  hundred  men  in 
his  camp.  The  black  spots  which  appeared  upon  his 
body,  his  own  dying  expressions,  and  the  advantages 
which  France  was  likely  to  reap  from  his  sudden  decease, 
gave  rise  to  a  suspicion  that  he  had  been  removed  by 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  343 

poison — a  suspicion  sufficiently  refuted  by  the  symptoms 
of  his  disorder.  In  him  the  allies  lost  their  greatest 
general  after  Gustavus  Adolphus,  France  a  formidable 
competitor  for  Alsace,  and  the  Emperor  his  most  dan- 
gerous enemy.  Trained  to  the  duties  of  a  soldier  and  a 
general  in  the  school  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  he  success- 
fully imitated  his  eminent  model,  and  wanted  only  a 
longer  life  to  equal  if  not  to  surpass  it.  With  the 
bravery  of  the  soldier  he  united  the  calm  and  cool  pene- 
tration of  the  general,  the  persevering  fortitude  of  the 
man  with  the  daring  resolution  of  youth  ;  with  the  wild 
ardor  of  the  warrior,  the  sober  dignity  of  the  prince,  the 
moderation  of  the  sage,  and  the  conscientious  of  the 
man  of  honor.  Discouraged  by  no  misfortune,  he  quickly 
rose  again  in  full  vigor  from  the  severest  defeats ;  no 
obstacles  could  check  his  enterprise,  no  disappointments 
conquer  his  indomitable  perseverance.  His  genius,  per- 
haps, soared  after  unattainable  objects ;  but  the  prudence 
of  such  men  is  to  be  measured  by  a  different  standard 
from  that  of  ordinary  people.  Capable  of  accomplishing 
more,  he  might  venture  to  form  more  daring  plans. 
Bernard  affords,  in  modern  history,  a  spendid  example 
of  those  days  of  chivalry,  when  personal  greatness  had  its 
full  weight  and  influence,  when  individual  bravery  could 
conquer  provinces,  and  the  heroic  exploits  of  a  German 
knight  raised  him  even  to  the  imperial  throne. 

The  best  part  of  the  duke's  possessions  were  his  army, 
which,  together  with  Alsace,  he  bequeathed  to  his  brother 
William.  But  to  this  army,  both  France  and  Sweden 
thought  that  they  had  well-grounded  claims ;  the  latter, 
because  it  had  been  raised  in  the  name  of  that  crown  and 
had  done  homage  to  it ;  the  former  because  it  had  been 
supported  by  its  subsidies.  The  Electoral  Prince  of  the 
Palatinate  also  negotiated  for  its  services,  and  attempted, 
first  by  his  agents,  and  latterly  in  his  own  person,  to  win 
it  over  to  his  interests,  with  the  view  of  employing  it  in 
the  reconquest  of  his  territories.  Even  the  Emperor  en- 
deavored to  secure  it,  a  circumstance  the  less  surprising, 
when  we  reflect  that  at  this  time  the  justice  of  the  cause 
was  comparatively  unimportant,  and  the  extent  of  the 
recompense  the  main  object  to  which  the  soldier  looked  j 


344  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

and  when  bravery,  like  every  other  commodity,  was 
disposed  of  to  the  highest  bidder.  But  France,  richer 
and  more  determined,  outbade  all  competitors ;  it  bought 
over  General  Erlach,  the  commander  of  Breysach,  and  the 
other  officers,  who  soon  placed  that  fortress,  with  the 
whole  army,  in  their  hands. 

The  young  Palatine,  Prince  Charles  Louis,  who  had 
already  made  an  unsuccessful  campaign  against  the 
Emperor,  saw  his  hopes  again  deceived.  Although  in- 
tending to  do  France  so  ill  a  service  as  to  compete  with 
her  for  Bernard's  army  he  had  the  imprudence  to  travel 
through  that  kingdom.  The  cardinal,  who  dreaded  the 
justice  of  the  Palatine's  cause,  was  glad  to  seize  any 
opportunity  to  frustrate  his  views.  He  accordingly  caused 
him  to  be  seized  at  Moulin,  in  violation  of  the  law  of 
nations,  and  did  not  set  him  at  liberty  until  he  learned 
that  the  army  of  the  Duke  of  Weimar  had  been  secured. 
France  was  now  in  possession  of  a  numerous  and  well- 
disciplined  army  in  Germany,  and  from  this  moment 
began  to  make  open  war  upon  the  Emperor. 

But  it  was  no  longer  against  Ferdinand  II.  that  its  hos- 
tilities were  to  be  conducted,  for  that  prince  had  died  in 
February,  1637,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  The  war 
which  his  ambition  had  kindled,  however,  survived  him. 
During  a  reign  of  eighteen  years  he  had  never  once  laid 
aside  the  sword,  nor  tasted  the  blessings  of  peace  as  long 
as  his  hand  swayed  the  imperial  sceptre.  Endowed  with 
the  qualities  of  a  good  sovereign,  adorned  with  many  of 
those  virtues  which  insure  the  happiness  of  a  people,  and 
by  nature  gentle  and  humane,  we  see  him  from  erroneous 
ideas  of  the  monarch's  duty  become  at  once  the  instru- 
ment and  the  victim  of  the  evil  passions  of  others,  his 
benevolent  intentions  frustrated,  and  the  friend  of  justice 
converted  into  the  oppressor  of  mankind,  the  enemy  of 
peace,  and  the  scourge  of  his  people.  Amiable  in  domestic 
life,  and  respectable  as  a  sovereign,  but  in  his  policy  ill- 
advised,  while  he  gained  the  love  of  his  Roman  Catholic 
subjects,  he  incurred  the  execration  of  the  Protestants. 
History  exhibits  many  and  greater  despots  than  Ferdi- 
nand II.,  yet  he  alone  has  had  the  unfortunate  celebrity 
of  kindling  a  thirty  years'  war;  but  to  produce  its 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  345 

lamentable  consequences  his  ambition  must  have  been 
seconded  by  a  kindred  spirit  of  the  age,  a  congenial  state 
of  previous  circumstances,  and  existing  seeds  of  discord. 
At  a  less  turbulent  period  the  spark  would  have  found  no 
fuel,  and  the  peacefulness  of  the  age  would  have  choked 
the  voice  of  individual  ambition  ;  but  now  the  flash  fell 
upon  a  pile  of  accumulated  combustibles,  and  Europe  was 
in  flames. 

His  son,  Ferdinand  III.,  who  a  few  months  before  his 
father's  death  had  been  raised  to  the  dignity  of  King  of 
the  Romans,  inherited  his  throne,  his  principles,  and  the 
war  which  lie  had  caused.  But  Ferdinand  III.  had  been 
a  closer  witness  of  the  sufferings  of  the  people  and  the 
devastation  of  the  country,  and  felt  more  keenly  and 
ardently  the  necessity  of  peace.  Less  influenced  by  the 
Jesuits  and  the  Spaniards,  and  more  moderate  towards 
the  religious  views  of  others,  he  was  more  likely  than  his 
father  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  reason.  He  did  so,  and 
ultimately  restored  to  Europe  the  blessing  of  peace,  but 
not  till  after  a  contest  of  eleven  years  waged  with  sword 
and  pen  ;  not  till  after  he  had  experienced  the  impossi- 
bility of  resistance,  and  necessity  had  laid  upon  him 'its 
stern  laws. 

Fortune  favored  him  at  the  commencement  of  his  reign, 
and  his  arms  were  victorious  against  the  Swedes.  The 
latter,  under  the  command  of  the  victorious  Banner,  had 
after  their  success  at  Wittstock  taken  up  their  winter 
quarters  in  Saxony,  and  the  campaign  of  1637  opened 
with  the  siege  of  Leipzig.  The  vigorous  resistance  of 
the  garrison  and  the  approach  of  the  Electoral  and 
Imperial  armies  saved  the  town,  and  Banner,  to  prevent 
his  communication  with  the  Elbe  being  cut  off,  was  com- 
pelled to  retreat  into  Torgau.  But  the  superior  number 
of  the  Imperialists  drove  him  even  from  that  quarter ; 
and  surrounded  by  the  enemy,  hemmed  in  by  rivers,  and 
suffering  from  famine,  he  had  no  course  open  to  him  but 
to  attempt  a  highly  dangerous  retreat  into  Pomerania,  of 
which  the  boldness  and  successful  issue  border  upon 
romance.  The  whole  army  crossed  the  Oder  at  a  ford 
near  Furstenberg ;  and,  the  soldiers,  wading  up  to  the 
neck  in  water,  dragged  the  artillery  across,  when  the 


346  THE    THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR. 

horses  refused  to  draw.   Banner  had  expected  to  be  joined 
by  General  Wrangel  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Oder  in 
Pomerania ;  and,  in  conjunction  with  him,  to  be  able  to 
make  head  against  the  enemy.     But  Wrangel  did  not 
appear,  and  in  his  stead  he  found  an  imperial  army  posted 
at  Landsberg  with  a  view  to   cut  off  the  retreat  of  the 
Swedes.     Banner  now  saw  that  he  had  fallen  into  a  dan- 
gerous snare  from  which  escape  appeared  impossible.     In 
his  rear  lay  an  exhausted  country,  the  Imperialists,  and 
the  Oder  on  his  left ;  the  Oder,  too,  guarded  by  the  Impe- 
rial General  Bucheim,  offered  no  retreat ;  in  front  Lands- 
berg,  Custrin,  the  Warta,  and  a  hostile  army ;  and  on  the 
right  Poland,  in  which,  notwithstanding  the  truce,  little 
confidence  could  be  placed.     In  these  circumstances  his 
position    seemed    hopeless,    and    the    Imperialists    were 
already  triumphing  in  the  certainty  of  his  fall.     Banner, 
with  just  indignation,  accused  the  French  as  the  authors  of 
this  misfortune.    They  had  neglected  to  make,  according 
to  their  promise,  a  diversion  upon  the  Rhine,  and  by  their 
inaction  allowed" the  Emperor  to  combine  his  whole  force 
upon  the  Swedes.     "  When  the  day  comes,"  cried  the  in- 
censed general  to  the  French  commissioner,  who  followed 
the  camp,  "  that  the  Swedes  and  Germans  join  their  arms 
against  France  we  shall  cross  the  Rhine  with  less  cere- 
mony."    But  reproaches  were    now    useless ;    what   the 
emergency  demanded  was  energy  and  resolution.     In  the 
hope   of    drawing    the   enemy    by    stratagem    from    the 
Oder,  Banner  pretended  to  march   towards  Poland,  and 
despatched  the  greater  part  of  his  baggage  in  this  direc- 
tion, with  his  own  wife  and  those  of  the  other  officers. 
The  Imperialists  immediately  broke  up  their  camp  and 
hurried  towards  the  Polish  frontier  to  block  up  the  route  ; 
Bucheim  left  his  station,  and  the  Oder  was  stripped  of  its 
defenders.      On  a   sudden,   and   under   cloud    of    night, 
Banner  turned  towards  that  river,  and  crossed  it  about  a 
mile  above  Custrin,  with  his  troops,  baggage,  and  artil- 
lery, without  bridges  or  vessels,  as  he  had  done  before  at 
Furstenberg.     He  reached  Pomerania  without  loss,  and 
prepared   to   share   with   Wrangel  the    defence   of   that 
province. 

But  the  Imperialists,  under  the  command  of  Gallas,  en- 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  347 

tered  that  duchy  at  Ribses,  and  overran  it  by  their 
superior  strength.  Usedom  and  Wolgast  were  taken  by 
storm,  Deminin  capitulated,  and  the  Swedes  were  driven 
far  into  Lower  Pomerania.  It  was,  too,  more  important 
for  them  at  this  moment  than  ever  to  maintain  a  footing 
in  that  country,  for  Bogislaus  XIV.  had  died  that  year, 
and  Sweden  must  prepare  to  establish  its  title  to  Pom- 
crania.  To  prevent  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  from 
making  good  the  title  to  that  duchy,  which  the  treaty  of 
Prague  had  given  him,  Sweden  exerted  her  utmost  ener- 
gies, and  supported  its  generals  to  the  extent  of  her 
ability,  both  with  troops  and  money.  In  other  quarters 
of  the  kingdom  the  affairs  of  the  Swedes  began  to  wear  a 
more  favorable  aspect,  and  to  recover  from  the  humilia- 
tion into  which  they  had  been  thrown  by  the  inaction  of 
France  and  the  desertion  of  their  allies.  For,  after 
their  hasty  retreat  into  Pom  crania,  they  had  lost  one 
place  after  another  in  Upper  Saxony ;  the  Princes  of 
Mecklenburg,  closely  pressed  by  the  troops  of  the  Em- 
peror, began  to  lean  to  the  side  of  Austria,  and  even 
George,  Duke  of  Lunenburg,  declared  against  them. 
Ehrenbreitstein  was  starved  into  a  surrender  by  .the 
Bavarian  General  de  "Werth,  and  the  Austrians  possessed 
themselves  of  all  the  works  which  had  been  thrown  up 
on  the  Rhine.  France  had  been  the  sufferer  in  the  con- 
test with  Spain ;  and  the  event  had  by  no  means  justified 
the  pompous  expectations  which  had  accompanied  the 
opening  of  the  campaign.  Every  place  which  the  Swedes 
had  held  in  the  interior  of  Germany  was  lost ;  and  only 
the  principal  towns  in  Pomerania  still  remained  in  their 
hands.  But  a  single  campaign  raised  them  from  this 
state  of  humiliation  ;  and  the  vigorous  diversion,  which 
the  victorious  Bernard  had  effected  upon  the  Rhine,  gave 
quite  a  new  turn  to  affairs. 

The  misunderstandings  between  France  and  Sweden 
were  now  at  last  adjusted,  and  the  old  treaty  between 
these  powers  confirmed  at  Hamburg,  with  fresh  advan- 
tages for  Sweden.  In  Hesse  the  politic  Landgravine 
Amelia  had,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Estates,  as- 
sumed the  government  after  the  death  of  her  husband, 
and  resolutely  maintained  her  rights  against  the  Emperor 


348  THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR. 

and  the  House  of  Darmstadt.  Already  zealously  attached 
to  the  Swedish  Protestant  party  on  religious  grounds, 
she  only  awaited  a  favorable  opportunity  openly  to  declare 
herself.  By  artful  delays  and  by  prolonging  the  negotia- 
tions with  the  Emperor  she  had  succeeded  in  keeping 
him  inactive,  till  she  had  concluded  a  secret  compact  with 
France,  and  the  victories  of  Duke  Bernard  had  given  a 
favorable  turn  to  the  affairs  of  the  Protestants.  She  now 
at  once  threw  off  the  mask,  and  renewed  her  former  alli- 
ance with  the  Swedish  crown.  The  Electoral  Prince  of 
the  Palatinate  was  also  stimulated  by  the  success  of 
Bernard  to  try  his  fortune  against  the  common  enemy. 
Raising  troops  in  Holland  with  English  money,  he 
formed  a  magazine  at  Meppen  and  joined  the  Swedes  in 
Westphalia.  His  magazine  was,  however,  quickly  lost ; 
his  army  defeated  near  Flotha  by  Count  Hatzfeld ;  but 
his  attempt  served  to  occupy  for  some  time  the  attention 
of  the  enemy,  and  thereby  facilitated  the  operations  of 
the  Swedes  in  other  quarters.  Other  friends  began  to 
appear  as  fortune  declared  in  their  favor ;  and  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  states  of  Lower  Saxony  embraced  a 
neutrality  was  of  itself  no  inconsiderable  advantage. 

Under  these  advantages,  and  reinforced  by  fourteen 
thousand  fresh  troops  from  Sweden  and  Livonia,  Banner 
opened  with  the  most  favorable  prospects  the  campaign 
of  1638.  The  Imperialists  who  were  in  possession  of 
Upper  Pomerania  and  Mecklenburg  either  abandoned 
their  positions  or  deserted  in  crowds  to  the  Swedes  to 
avoid  the  horrors  of  famine,  the  most  formidable  enemy 
in  this  exhausted  country.  The  whole  country  betwixt 
the  Elbe  and  the  Oder  was  so  desolated  by  the  past 
marchings  and  quarterings  of  the  troops  that,  in  order  to 
support  his  army  on  its  march  into  Saxony  and  Bohemia, 
Banner  was  obliged  to  take  a  circuitous  route  from 
Lower  Pomerania  into  Lower  Saxony,  and  then  into  the 
Electorate  of  Saxony  through  the  territory  of  Halber- 
stadt.  The  impatience  of  the  Lower  Saxon  states  to 
get  rid  of  such  troublesome  guests  procured  him  so  plen- 
tiful a  supply  of  provisions  that  he  was  provided  with 
bread  in  Magdeburg  itself,  where  famine  had  even  over- 
come the  natural  antipathy  of  men  to  human  flesh.  His 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*    WAR.  349 

approach  spread  consternation  among  the  Saxons;  but 
his  views  were  directed  not  against  this  exhausted  coun- 
try, but  against  the  hereditary  dominions  of  the  Em- 
peror. The  victories  of  Bernard  encouraged  him,  while 
the  prosperity  of  the  Austrian  provinces  excited  his 
hopes  of  booty.  After  defeating  the  Imperial  General 
Salis  at  Elsterberg,  totally  routing  the  Saxon  army  at 
Chemnitz,  and  taking  Pirna,  he  penetrated  with  irresisti- 
ble impetuosity  into  Bohemia,  crossed  the  Elbe,  threat- 
ened Prague,  took  Brandeis  and  Leutmeritz,  defeated 
General  Hofkirchen  with  ten  regiments,  and  spread  ter- 
ror and  devastation  through  that  defenceless  kingdom. 
Booty  was  his  sole  object,  and  whatever  he  could  not 
carry  off  he  destroyed.  In  order  to  remove  more  of  the 
corn  the  ears  were  cut  from  the  stalks,  and  the  latter 
burnt.  Above  a  thousand  castles,  hamlets,  and  villages 
were  laid  in  ashes;  sometimes  more  than  a  hundred  were 
seen  burning  in  one  night.  From  Bohemia  he  crossed 
into  Silesia,  and  it  was  his  intention  to  carry  his  ravages 
even  into  Moravia  and  Austria.  But  to  prevent  this 
Count  Hatzfeld  was  summoned  from  Westphalia,  and 
Piccolomini  from  the  Netherlands,  to  hasten  with  all 
speed  to  this  quarter.  The  Archduke  Leopold,  brother 
to  the  Emperor,  assumed  the  command  in  order  to  repair 
the  errors  of  his  predecessor,  Gallas,  and  to  raise  the 
army  from  the  low  ebb  to  which  it  had  fallen. 

The  result  justified  the  change,  and  the  campaign  of 
1640  appeared  to  take  a  most  unfortunate  turn  for  the 
Swedes.  They  were  successively  driven  out  of  all  their 
posts  in  Bohemia,  and,  anxious  only  to  secure  their  plun- 
der, they  precipitately  crossed  the  heights  of  Meissen. 
But  being  followed  into  Saxony  by  the  pursuing  enemy, 
and  defeated  at  Plauen,  they  were  obliged  to  take  refuge 
in  Thuringia.  Made  masters  of  the  field  in  a  single 
summer,  they  were  as  rapidly  dispossessed,  but  only  to 
acquire  it  a  second  time,  and  to  hurry  from  one  extreme 
to  another.  The  army  of  Banner,  weakened  and  on  the 
brink  of  destruction  in  its  camp  at  Erfurt,  suddenly 
recovered  itself.  The  Duke  of  Lunenburg  abandoned 
the  treaty  of  Prague,  and  joined  Banner  with  the  very 
troops  which  the  year  before  had  fought  against  him. 


350  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

Hesse  Cassel  sent  reinforcements,  and  the  Duke  of 
Longueville  came  to  his  support  with  the  army  of  the 
late  Duke  Bernard.  Once  more  numerically  superior  to 
the  Imperialists  Banner  offered  them  battle  near  Saal- 
feld,  but  their  leader,  Piccolomini,  prudently  declined  an 
engagement,  having  chosen  too  strong  a  position  to  be 
forced.  When  the  Bavarians  at  length  separated  from 
the  Imperialists  and  marched  towards  Franconia  Banner 
attempted  an  attack  upon  this  divided  corps,  but  the 
attempt  was  frustrated  by  the  skill  of  the  Bavarian  Gen- 
eral Von  Mercy  and  the  near  approach  of  the  main  body 
of  the  Imperialists.  Both  armies  now  moved  into  the 
exhausted  territory  of  Hesse,  where  they  formed  in- 
trenched camps  near  each  other,  till  at  last  famine  and 
the  severity  of  the  winter  compelled  them  both  to  retire. 
Piccolomini  chose  the  fertile  banks  of  the  Weser  for  his 
winter  quarters,  but  being  outflanked  by  Banner  he  M'as 
obliged  to  give  way  to  the  Swedes  and  to  impose  on  the 
Franconian  sees  the  burden  of  maintaining  his  army. 

At  this  period  a  diet  was  held  in  Ratisbon,  where  the 
complaints  of  the  states  were  to  be  heard,  measures 
taken  for  securing  the  repose  of  the  Empire,  and  the 
question  of  peace  or  war  finally  settled.  The  presence 
of  the  Emperor,  the  majority  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
voices  in  the  Electoral  College,  the  great  number  of  bish- 
ops, and  the  withdrawal  of  several  of  the  Protestant 
votes,  gave  the  Emperor  a  complete  command  of  the 
deliberations  of  the  assembly,  and  rendered  this  diet 
anything  but  a  fair  representative  of  the  opinions  of  the 
German  Empire.  The  Protestants  with  reason  consid- 
ered it  as  a  mere  combination  of  Austria  and  its  crea- 
tures against  their  party,  and  it  seemed  to  them  a  lauda- 
ble effort  to  interrupt  its  deliberations  and  to  dissolve 
the  Diet  itself. 

Banner  undertook  this  bold  enterprise.  His  military 
reputation  had  suffered  by  his  last  retreat  from  Bohemia, 
and  it  stood  in  need  of  some  great  exploit  to  restore  its 
former  lustre.  Without  communicating  his  designs  to 
any  one,  in  the  depth  of  the  winter  of  1641,  as  soon  as 
the  roads  and  rivers  were  frozen,  he  broke  up  from  his 
quarters  in  Lunenburg.  Accompanied  by  Marshal  Gue- 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*    WAR.  351 

briant,  who  commanded  the  armies  of  France  and  Wei- 
mar, he  took  the  route  towards  the  Danube,  through 
Thuringia  and  Vogtland,  and  appeared  before  Ratisbon 
ere  the  Diet  could  be  apprised  of  his  approach.  The 
consternation  of  the  assembly  was  indescribable,  and  in 
the  first  alarm  the  deputies  prepared  for  flight.  The 
Emperor  alone  declared  that  he  would  not  leave  the 
town,  and  encouraged  the  rest  by  his  example.  Unfor- 
tunately for  the  Swedes  a  thaw  came  on,  which  broke  up 
the  ice  upon  the  Danube  so  that  it  was  no  longer  passable 
on  foot,  while  no  boats  could  cross  it  on  account  of  the 
quantities  of  ice  which  were  swept  down  by  the  current. 
In  order  to  perform  something  and  to  humble  the  pride 
of  the  Emperor,  Banner  discourteously  fired  five  hundred 
cannon-shots  into  the  town,  which  however  did  little 
mischief.  Baffled  in  his  designs,  he  resolved  to  penetrate 
farther  into  Bavaria  and  the  defenceless  province  of 
Moravia,  where  a  rich  booty  and  comfortable  quarters 
awaited  his  troops.  Guebriant,  however,  began  to  fear 
that  the  purpose  of  the  Swedes  was  to  draw  the  army  of 
Bernard  away  from  the  Rhine  and  to  cut  off  its  commu- 
nication with  France  till  it  should  be  either  entirely  won 
over  or  incapacitated  from  acting  independently.  He 
therefore  separated  from  Banner  to  return  to  the  Maine, 
and  the  latter  was  exposed  to  the  whole  force  of  the 
Imperialists,  which  had  been  secretly  drawn  together 
between  Ratisbon  and  Ingoldstadt,  and  was  on  its  march 
against  him.  It  was  now  time  to  think  of  a  rapid 
retreat,  which  having  to  be  effected  in  the  face  of  an 
army  superior  in  cavalry,  and  betwixt  woods  and  rivers 
through  a  country  entirely  hostile,  Appeared  almost  im- 
practicable. He  hastily  retired  towards  the  Forest, 
intending  to  penetrate  through  Bohemia  into  Saxony, 
but  he  was  obliged  to  sacrifice  three  regiments  at  Neu- 
burg.  These  with  a  truly  Spartan  courage  defended 
themselves  for  four  days  behind  an  old  wall,  and  gained 
time  for  Banner  to  escape.  He  retreated  by  Egra  to 
Annaberg ;  Piccolomini  took  a  shorter  route  in  pursuit 
by  Schlakenwald,  and  Banner  succeeded  only  by  a  single 
half  hour  in  clearing  the  Pass  of  Prisnitz  and  saving  his 
whole  army  from  the  Imperialists.  At  Zwickau  he  was 


352  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR. 

again  joined  by  Guebriant,  and  both  generals  directed 
their  march  towards  Halberstadt  after  in  vain  attempting 
to  defend  the  Saal  and  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the 
Imperialists. 

Banner  at  length  terminated  his  career  at  Halberstadt, 
in  May,  1641,  a  victim  to  vexation  and  disappointment. 
He  sustained  with  great  renown  though  with  varying 
success  the  reputation  of  the  Swedish  arms  in  Germany, 
and  by  a  train  of  victories  showed  himself  worthy  of  his 
great  master  in  the  art  of  war.  He  was  fertile  in  expe- 
dients, which  he  planned  with  secrecy  and  executed  with 
boldness,  cautious  in  the  midst  of  dangers,  greater  in 
adversity  than  in  prosperity,  and  never  more  formidable 
than  when  upon  the  brink  of  destruction.  But  the  vir- 
tues of  the  hero  were  united  with  all  the  failings  and 
vices  which  a  military  life  creates,  or  at  least  fosters.  As 
imperious  in  private  life  as  he  was  at  the  head  of  his 
army,  rude  as  his  profession,  and  proud  as  a  conqueror, 
he  oppressed  the  German  princes  no  less  by  his  haughti- 
ness than  their  country  by  his  contributions.  He  con- 
soled himself  for  the  toils  of  war  in  voluptuousness  and 
the  pleasures  of  the  table,  in  which  he  indulged  to 
excess,  and  was  thus  brought  to  an  early  grave.  But 
though  as  much  addicted  to  pleasure  as  Alexander  or 
Mahomet  II.,  he  hurried  from  the  arms  of  luxury  into 
the  hardest  fatigues,  and  placed  himself  in  all  his  vigor 
at  the  head  of  his  army  at  the  very  moment  his  soldiers 
were  murmuring  at  his  luxurious  excesses.  Nearly 
eighty  thousand  men  fell  in  the  numerous  battles  which 
he  fought,  and  about  six  hundred  hostile  standards  and 
colors,  which  he  sent  to  Stockholm,  were  the  trophies  of 
his  victories.  The  want  of  this  great  general  was  soon 
severely  felt  by  the  Swedes,  who  feared  with  justice  that 
the  loss  would  not  readily  be  replaced.  The  spirit  of 
rebellion  and  insubordination,  which  had  been  overawed 
by  the  imperious  demeanor  of  this  dreaded  commander, 
awoke  upon  his  death.  The  officers,  with  an  alarming 
unanimity,  demanded  payment  of  their  arrears,  and  none 
of  the  four  generals  who  shared  the  command  possessed 
influence  enough  to  satisfy  these  demands  or  to  silence 
the  malcontents.  All  discipline  was  at  an  end ;  in- 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR.  353 

creasing  want  and  the  imperial  citations  were  daily 
diminishing  the  number  of  the  army;  the  troops  of 
France  and  Weimar  showed  little  zeal ;  those  of  Lunen- 
hurg  forsook  the  Swedish  colors;  the  Princes  also  of  the 
House  of  Brunswick,  after  the  death  of  Duke  George, 
had  formed  a  separate  treaty  with  the  Emperor,  and  at 
last  even  those  of  Hesse  quitted  them  to  seek  better 
quarters  in  Westphalia.  The  enemy  profited  by  these 
calamitous  divisions,  and  although  defeated  with  loss  in 
two  pitched  battles,  succeeded  in  making  considerable 
progress  in  Lower  Saxony. 

At  length  appeared  the  new  Swedish  generalissimo 
with  fresh  troops  and  money.  This  was  Bernard  Tor- 
stensohn,  a  pupil  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  his  most 
successful  imitator,  who  had  been  his  page  during  the 
Polish  war.  Though  a  martyr  to  the  gout  and  confined  to 
a  litter,  he  surpassed  all  his  opponents  in  activity;  and  his 
enterprises  had  wings  while  his  body  was  held  by  the 
most  frightful  of  fetters.  Under  him  the  scene  of  war 
was  changed  and  new  maxims  adopted  which  necessity 
dictated  and  the  issue  justified.  All  the  countries  in 
which  the  contest  had  hitherto  raged  were  exhausted, 
while  the  House  of  Austria,  safe  in  its  more  distant  ter- 
tories,  felt  not  the  miseries  of  the  war  under  which  the 
rest  of  Germany  groaned.  Torstensohn  first  furnished 
them  with  this  bitter  experience,  glutted  his  Swedes  on 
the  fertile  fields  of  Austria,  and  carried  the  torch  of  war 
to  the  very  footsteps  of  the  imperial  throne. 

In  Silesia  the  enemy  had  gained  considerable  advan- 
tage over  the  Swedish  General  Stalhantsch,  and  driven 
him  as  far  as  Neumark.  Torstenohn,  who  had  joined 
the  main  body  of  the  Swedes  in  Lunenburg,  summoned 
him  to  unite  with  his  force,  and  in  the  year  1642  hastily 
marched  into  Silesia  through  Brandenburg,  which,  under 
its  great  Elector,  had  begun  to  maintain  an  armed  neu- 
trality. Glogau  was  carried,  sword  in  hand,  without  a 
breach  or  formal  approaches,  the  Duke  Francis  Albert 
of  Lauenburg  defeated  and  killed  at  Schweidnitz,  and 
Schweidnitz  itself  with  almost  all  the  towns  on  that  side 
of  the  Oder  taken.  He  now  penetrated  with  irresistible 
violence  into  the  interior  of  Moravia,  where  no  enemy  of 


354  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

x 

Austria  had  hitherto  appeared,  took  Olm utz  and  threw 
Vienna  itself  into  consternation. 

But  in  the  meantime  Piccolomini  and  the  Archduke 
Leopold  had  collected  a  superior  force  which  speedily 
drove  the  Swedish  conquerors  from  Moravia,  and,  after  a 
fruitless  attempt  upon  Brieg,  from  Silesia.  Reinforced 
by  Wrangel,  the  Swedes  again  attempted  to  make  head 
against  the  enemy,  and  relieved  Grossglogau,  but  could 
neither  bring  the  Imperialists  to  an  engagement  nor  carry 
into  effect  their  own  views  upon  Bohemia.  Overrunning 
Lusatia  they  took  Zittau  in  presence  of  the  enemy,  and 
after  a  short  stay  in  that  country  directed  their  march 
toward  the  Elbe,  which  they  passed  at  Torgau.  Torsten- 
sohn  now  threatened  Leipzig  with  a  siege,  and  hoped  to 
raise  a  large  supply  of  provisions  and  contributions  from 
that  prosperous  town,  which  for  ten  years  had  been 
un  visited  with  the  scourge  of  war. 

The  Imperialists  under  Leopold  and  Piccolomini  im- 
mediately hastened  by  Dresden  to  its  relief,  and  Torsten- 
sohn  to  avoid  being  inclosed  between  this  army  and  the 
town  boldly  advanced  to  meet  them  in  order  of  battle. 
By  a  strange  coincidence  the  two  armies  met  upon  the 
very  spot  which  eleven  years  before  Gustavus  Adolphus 
had  rendered  remarkable  by  a  decisive  victory;  and  the 
heroism  of  their  predecessors  now  kindled  in  the  Swedes 
a  noble  emulation  on  this  consecrated  ground.  The 
Swedish  Generals  Stahlhantsch  and  Wellenberg  led  their 
divisions  with  such  impetuosity  upon  the  left  wing  of  the 
Imperialists,  before  it  was  completely  formed,  that  the 
whole  cavalry  that  covered  it  were  dispersed  and  ren- 
dered unserviceable.  But  the  left  of  the  Swedes  was 
threatened  with  a  similar  fate  when  the  victorious  right 
advanced  to  its  assistance,  took  the  enemy  in  flank  and 
rear  and  divided  the  Austrian  line.  The  infantry  on 
both  sides  stood  firm  as  a  wall,  and  when  their  ammuni- 
tion was  exhausted  maintained  the  combat  with  the  butt 
ends  of  their  muskets,  till  at  last  the  Imperialists,  com- 
pletely surrounded,  after  a  contest  of  three  hours,  were 
compelled  to  abandon  the  field.  The  generals  on  both 
sides  had  more  than  once  to  rally  their  flying  troops; 
and  the  Archduke  Leopold  with  his  regiment  was  the 


THE   THIRTY  YEARS*   WAR.  355 

first  in  the  attack  and  last  in  fight.  But  this  bloody 
victory  cost  the  Swedes  more  than  three  thousand  men 
and  two  of  their  best  generals,  Schlangen  and  Lilien- 
hoeck.  More  than  five  thousand  of  the  Imperialists  were 
left  upon  the  field,  and  nearly  as  many  taken  prisoners. 
Their  whole  artillery,  consisting  of  forty-six  field-pieces, 
the  silver  plate  and  portfolio  of  the  archduke,  with  the 
whole  baggage  of  the  army,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
victors.  Torstensohn,  too  greatly  disabled  by  his  victory 
to  pursue  the  enemy,  moved  upon  Leipzig.  The  defeated 
army  retreated  into  Bohemia,  where  its  shattered  regi- 
ments reassembled.  The  Ai'chduke  Leopold  could  not 
recover  from  the  vexation  caused  by  this  defeat,  and  the 
regiment  of  cavalry  which  by  its  premature  flight  had 
occasioned  the  disaster  experienced  the  effects  of  his 
indignation.  At  Raconitz,  in  Bohemia,  in  presence  of 
the  whole  army,  he  publicly  declared  it  infamous,  de- 
prived it  of  its  horses,  arms,  and  ensigns,  ordered  its 
standards  to  be  torn,  condemned  to  death  several  of  the 
officers,  and  decimated  the  privates. 

The  surrender  of  Leipzig,  three  weeks  after  the  battle, 
was  its  brilliant  result.  The  city  was  obliged  to  clothe 
the  Swedish  troops  anew,  and  to  purchase  an  exemption 
from  plunder  by  a  contribution  of  three  hundred  thou- 
sand rix-dollars,  to  which  all  the  foreign  merchants  who 
had  warehouses  in  the  city  were  to  furnish  their  quota.  In 
the  middle  of  the  winter  Torstensohn  advanced  against 
Freyberg,  and  for  several  weeks  defied  the  inclemency  of 
the  season,  hoping  by  his  perseverance  to  weary  out  the 
obstinacy  of  the  besieged.  But  he  found  that  he  was 
merely  sacrificing  the  lives  of  his  soldiers;  and  at  last 
the  approach  of  the  imperial  general,  Piccolomini,  com- 
pelled him  with  his  weakened  army  to  retire.  He  con- 
sidered it,  however,  as  equivalent  to  a  victory  to  have 
disturbed  the  repose  of  the  enemy  in  their  winter  quarters, 
who,  by  the  severity  of  the  Weather,  sustained  a  loss  of  three 
thousand  horses.  He  now  made  a  movement  towards  the 
Oder,  as  if  with  the  view  of  reinforcing  himself  with  the 
garrisons  of  Pomerania  and  Silesia ;  but  with  the  rapidity 
of  lightning  he  again  appeared  upon  the  Bohemian  front- 
ier, penetrated  through  that  kingdom  and  relieved 


356  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

Olmutz  in  Moravia,  which  was  hard  pressed  by  the  Im- 
perialists. His  camp  at  Dobitschau,  two  miles  from 
Olmutz,  commanded  the  whole  of  Moravia,  on  which  he 
levied  heavy  contributions,  and  carried  his  ravages  almost 
to  the  gates  of  Vienna.  In  vain  did  the  Emperor  at- 
tempt to  arm  the  Hungarian  nobility  in  defence  of  this 
province ;  they  appealed  to  their  privileges  and  refused 
to  serve  beyond  the  limits  of  their  own  country.  Thus 
the  time  that  should  have  been  spent  in  active  resistance 
was  lost  in  fruitless  negotiation,  and  the  entire  province 
was  abandoned  to  the  ravages  of  the  Swedes. 

While  Torstensohn  by  his  marches  and  his  victories 
astonished  friend  and  foe  the  armies  of  the  allies  had  not 
been  inactive  in  other  parts  of  the  empire.  The  troops 
of  Hesse,  under  Count  Eberstein,  and  those  of  Weimar, 
under  Mareschal  de  Guebriant,  had  fallen  into  the  Elec- 
torate of  Cologne,  in  order  to  take  up  their  winter  quar- 
ters there.  To  get  rid  of  these  troublesome  guests  the 
Elector  called  to  his  assistance  the  imperial  General  Hatz- 
feld  and  assembled  his  own  troops  under  General  Lam- 
boy.  The  latter  was  attacked  by  the  allies  in  January, 
1642,  and  in  a  decisive  action  near  Kempen  defeated 
with  a  loss  of  about  two  thousand  men  killed  and  about 
twice  as  many  prisoners.  This  important  victory  opened 
to  them  the  whole  Electorate  and  neighboring  territories 
so  that  the  allies  were  not  only  enabled  to  maintain  their 
winter  quarters  there,  but  drew  from  the  country  large 
supplies  of  men  and  horses. 

Guebriant  left  the  Hessians  to  defend  their  conquests 
on  the  Lower  Rhine  against  Hatzfeld,  and  advanced 
towards  Thuringia,  as  if  to  second  the  operations  of 
Torstensohn  in  Saxony.  But  instead  of  joining  the 
Swedes  he  soon  hurried  back  to  the  Rhine  and  the  Maine, 
from  which  he  seemed  to  think  he  had  removed  farther 
than  was  expedient.  But  being  anticipated  in  the  Mar- 
gravate  of  Baden  by  the  Bavarians  under  Mercy  and 
John  De  Werth  he  was  obliged  to  wander  about  for  sev- 
eral weeks  exposed  without  shelter  to  the  inclemency  of 
the  winter  and  generally  encamping  upon  the  snow  till 
he  found  a  miserable  refuge  in  Bavaria.  He  at  last  took 
the  field,  and  in  the  next  summer  by  keeping  the  Bavarian 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  357 

army  employed  in  Swabia  prevented  it  from  relieving 
Thionville,  which  was  besieged  by  Conde.  But  the  supe- 
riority of  the  enemy  soon  drove  him  back  to  Alsace, 
where  he  awaited  a  reinforcement. 

The  death  of  Cardinal  Richelieu  took  place  in  Novem- 
ber, 1642,  and  the  subsequent  change  in  the  throne  and 
in  the  ministry,  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Louis  XIII., 
had  for  some  time  withdrawn  the  attention  of  France 
from  the  German  war,  and  was  the  cause  of  the  inaction 
of  its  troops  in  the  field.  But  Mazarin,  the  inheritor  not 
only  of  Richelieu's  power,  but  also  of  his  principles  and 
his  projects,  followed  out  with  renewed  zeal  the  plans  of 
his  predecessor,  though  the  French  subject  was  destined 
to  pay  dearly  enough  for  the  political  greatness  of  his 
country.  The  main  strength  of  its  armies,  which  Riche- 
lieu had  employed  against  the  Spaniards,  was  by  Mazarin 
directed  against  the  Emperor ;  and  the  anxiety  with 
which  he  carried  on  the  war  in  Germany  proved  the 
sincerity  of  his  opinion,  that  the  German  army  was  the 
right  arm  of  his  king  and  a  wall  of  safety  around  France. 
Immediately  upon  the  surrender  of  Thionville  he  sent  a 
considerable  reinforcement  to  Field-Marshal  Guebriant  in 
Alsace  ;  and  to  encourage  the  troops  to  bear  the  fatigues 
of  the  German  war,  the  celebrated  victor  of  Rocroi,  the 
Duke  of  Enghien,  afterwads  Prince  of  Conde,  was  placed 
at  their  head.  Guebriant  now  felt  himself  strong  enough 
to  appear  again  in  Germany  with  repute.  He  hastened 
across  the  Rhine  with  the  view  of  procuring  better  win- 
ter quarters  in  Swabia,  and  actually  made  himself  master 
of  Rothweil,  where  a  Bavarian  magazine  fell  into  his 
hands.  But  the  place  was  too  dearly  purchased  for  its 
worth,  and  was  again  lost  even  more  speedily  than  it  had 
been  taken.  Guebriant  received  a  wound  in  the  arm, 
which  the  surgeon's  unskilfulness  rendered  mortal,  and 
the  extent  of  his  loss  was  felt  on  the  very  day  of  his 
death. 

The  French  army,  sensibly  weakened  by  an  expedition 
undertaken  at  so  severe  a  season  of  the  year,  had  after 
the  taking  of  Rowtheil  withdrawn  into  the  neighborhood 
of  Duttlingen,  where  it  lay  in  complete  security  without 
expectation  of  a  hostile  attack.  In  the  meantime  the 


358  THE   THIRTY   YEARS'  WAR. 

enemy  collected  a  considerable  force  with  a  view  to 
prevent  the  French  from  establishing  themselves  beyond 
the  Rhine  and  so  near  to  Bavaria,  and  to  protect  that 
quarter  from  their  ravages.  The  Imperialists  under 
Hatzfeld  had  formed  a  junction  with  the  Bavarians 
under  Mercy ;  and  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  who,  during 
the  whole  course  of  the  war,  was  generally  found  every- 
where except  in  his  own  duchy,  joined  their  united  forces. 
It  was  resolved  to  force  the  quarters  of  the  French  in 
Duttlingen  and  the  neighboring  villages  by  surprise ;  a 
favorite  mode  of  proceeding  in  this  war,  and  which  being 
commonly  accompanied  by  confusion  occasioned  more 
bloodshed  than  a  regular  battle.  On  the  present  occasion 
there  was  the  more  to  justify  it,  as  the  French  soldiers, 
unaccustomed  to  such  enterprises,  conceived  themselves 
protected  by  the  security  of  the  winter  against  any  sur- 
prise. John  de  Werth,  a  master  in  this  species  of  war- 
fare, which  he  had  often  put  in  practice  against  Gustavus 
Horn,  conducted  the  enterprise  and  succeeded  contrary 
to  all  expectation. 

The  attack  was  made  on  a  side  where  it  was  least 
looked  for,  on  account  of  the  woods  and  narrow  passes ; 
and  a  heavy  snow-storm  which  fell  upon  the  same  day  (the 
24th  November,  1643),  concealed  the  approach  of  the 
vanguard  till  it  halted  before  Duttlingen.  The  whole  of 
the  artillery  without  the  place,  as  well  as  the  neighboring 
Castle  of  Honberg,  were  taken  without  resistance,  Dutt- 
lingen itself  was  gradually  surrounded  by  the  enemy,  and 
all  connection  with  the  other  quarters  in  the  adjacent 
villages  silently  and  suddenly  cut  off.  The  French  were 
vanquished  without  firing  a  cannon.  The  cavalry  owed 
their  escape  to  the  swiftness  of  their  horses  and  the  few 
minutes  in  advance  which  they  had  gained  upon  their 
pursuers.  The  infantry  were  cut  to  pieces  or  voluntarily 
laid  down  their  arms.  About  two  thousand  men  were 
killed,  and  seven  thousand,  with  twenty-five  staff-officers 
and  ninety  captains,  taken  prisoners.  This  was  perhaps 
the  only  battle  in  the  whole  course  of  the  war  which 
produced  nearly  the  same  effect  upon  the  party  which 
gained  and  that  which  lost;  —  both  these  parties  were 
Germans ;  the  French  disgraced  themselves.  The  mem- 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS*   WAR.  359 

ory  of  this  unfortunate  day,  which  was  renewed  one 
hundred  years  after  at  Rosbach,  was  indeed  erased  by 
the  subsequent  heroism  of  a  Turenne  and  Conde ;  but 
the  Germans  may  be  pardoned  if  they  indemnified  them- 
selves for  the  miseries  which  the  policy  of  France  had 
heaped  upon  them  by  these  severe  reflections  upon  her 
intrepidity. 

Meantime  this  defeat  of  the  French  was  calculated  to 
prove  highly  disastrous  to  Sweden,  as  the  whole  power  of 
the  Emperor  might  now  act  against  them,  while  the  num- 
ber of  their  enemies  was  increased  by  a  formidable  acces- 
sion. Torstensohn  had,  in  September,  1643,  suddenly  left 
Moravia  and  moved  into  Silesia.  The  cause  of  this  step 
was  a  secret,  and  the  frequent  changes  which  .took 
place  in  the  direction  of  his  march  contributed  to  increase 
this  perplexity.  From  Silesia  after  numberless  circuits 
he  advanced  towards  the  Elbe,  while  the  Imperialists 
followed  him  into  Lusatia.  Throwing  a  bridge  across 
the  Elbe  at  Torgau,  he  gave  out  that  he  intended  to 
penetrate  through  Meissen  into  the  Upper  Palatinate  in 
Bavaria ;  at  Barby  he  also  made  a  movement  as  if  to  pass 
that  river,  but  continued  to  move  down  the  Elbe  as  far 
as  Havelburg,  where  he  astonished  his  troops  by  inform- 
ing them  that  he  was  leading  them  against  the  Danes  in 
Holstein. 

The  partiality  which  Christian  IV.  had  displayed 
against  the  Swedes  in  his  office  of  mediator,  the  jealousy 
which  led  him  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  hinder  the  pro- 
gress of  their  arms,  the  restraints  which  he  laid  upon  their 
navigation  of  the  Sound,  and  the  burdens  which  he  im- 
posed upon  their  commerce,  had  long  roused  the  indig- 
nation of  Sweden;  and  at  last  when  these  grievances 
increased  daily  had  determined  the  Regency  to  measures 
of  retaliation.  Dangerous  as  it  seemed  to  involve  the 
nation  in  a  new  war,  when  even  amidst  its  conquests  it 
was  almost  exhausted  by  the  old,  the  desire  of  revenge, 
and  the  deep-rooted  hatred  which  subsisted  between 
Danes  and  Swedes,  prevailed  over  all  other  considera- 
tions ;  and  even  the  embarassment  in  which  hostilities 
with  Germany  had  plunged  it  only  served  as  an  additional 
motive  to  try  its  fortune  against  Denmark. 


360  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR. 

Matters  were  in  fact  arrived  at  last  to  that  extremity, 
that  the  war  was  prosecuted  merely  for  the  purpose  of 
furnishing  food  and  employment  to  the  troops ;  that  good 
winter  quarters  formed  the  chief  subject  of  contention; 
and  that  success  in  this  point  was  more  valued  than  a 
decisive  victory.  But  now  the  provinces  of  Germany 
were  almost  all  exhausted  and  laid  waste.  They  were 
wholly  destitute  of  provisions,  horses,  and  men,  which  in 
Holstein  were  to  be  found  in  profusion.  If  by  this 
movement  Torstensohn  should  succeed  merely  in  recruit- 
ing his  army,  providing  subsistence  for  his  horses  and 
soldiers,  and  remounting  his  cavalry,  all  the  danger  and 
difficulty  would  be  well  repaid.  Besides  it  was  highly 
important  on  the  eve  of  negotiations  for  peace  to  dimin- 
ish the  injurious  influence  which  Denmark  might  exercise 
upon  these  deliberations  to  delay  the  treaty  itself,  which 
threatened  to  be  prejudicial  to  the  Swedisli  interests,  by 
sowing  confusion  among  the  parties  interested,  arid  with 
a  view  to  the  amount  of  indemnification  to  increase  the 
number  of  her  conquests  in  order  to  be  the  more  sure  of 
securing  those  which  alone  she  was  anxious  to  retain. 
Moreover  the  present  state  of  Denmark  justified  even 
greater  hopes,  if  only  the  attempts  were  executed  with 
rapidity  and  silence.  The  secret  was  in  fact  so  well  kept 
in  Stockholm  that  the  Danish  minister  had  not  the  slight- 
est suspicion  of  it ;  and  neither  France  nor  Holland  were 
let  into  the  scheme.  Actual  hostilities  commenced  with 
the  declaration  of  war ;  and  Torstensohn  was  in  Holstein 
before  even  an  attack  was  expected.  The  Swedish  troops 
meeting  with  no  resistance,  quickly  overran  this  duchy 
and  made  themselves  masters  of  all  its  strong  places  ex- 
cept Rensburg  and  Gluckstadt.  Another  army  penetrated 
into  Schonen,  which  made  as  little  opposition  ;  and  noth- 
ing but  the  severity  of  the  season  prevented  the  enemy 
from  passing  the  Lesser  Baltic  and  carrying  the  war  into 
Funen  and  Zealand.  The  Danish  fleet  was  unsuccessful 
at  Femeru  ;  and  Christian  himself,  who  was  on  board,  lost 
his  right  eye  by  a  splinter.  Cut  off  from  all  communica- 
tion with  the  distant  force  of  the  Emperor,  his  ally,  this 
king  was  on  the  point  of  seeing  his  whole  kindom  over- 
run by  the  Swedes ;  and  all  things  threatened  the  speedy 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  361 

fulfilment  of  the  old  prophecy  of  the  famous  Tycho 
Brahe,  that  in  the  year  1644  Christian  IV.  should  wander 
in  the  greatest  misery  from  his  dominions. 

But  the  Emperor  could  not  look  on  with  indifference 
while  Denmark  was  sacrificed  to  Sweden,  and  the  latter 
strengthened  by  so  great  an  acquisition.  Notwithstand- 
ing great  difficulties  lay  in  the  way  of  so  long  a  march 
through  desolated  provinces,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
despatch  an  army  into  Holstein  under  Count  Gallas,  who, 
after  Piccolomini's  retirement,  had  resumed  the  supreme 
command  of  the  troops.  Gallas  accordingly  appeared  in 
the  duchy,  took  Keil,  and  hoped  by  forming  a  junction 
with  the  Danes  to  be  able  to  shut  up  the  Swedish  army 
in  Jutland.  Meantime  the  Hessians  and  the  Swedish 
General  Koenigsmark  were  kept  in  check  by  Hatzfeld  and 
the  Archbishop  of  Bremen,  the  son  of  Christian  IV. ; 
and  afterwards  the  Swedes  drawn  into  Saxony  by  an 
attack  upon  Meissen.  But  Torstensohn,  with  his  aug- 
mented army,  penetrated  to  the  unoccupied  pass  betwixt 
Schleswig  and  Stapelholm,  met  Gallas,  and  dpove  him 
along  the  whole  course  of  the  Elbe  as  far  as  Bernburg, 
where  the  Imperialists  took  up  an  intrenched  position. 
Torstensohn  passed  the  Saal,  and  by  posting  himself  in 
the  rear  of  the  enemy,  cut  off  their  communication  with 
Saxony  and  Bohemia.  Scarcity  and  famine  began  now  to 
destroy  them  in  great  numbers,  and  forced  them  to  retreat 
to  Magdeburg,  where,  however,  they  were  not  much  better 
off.  The  cavalry  which  endeavored  to  escape  into  Silesia 
was  overtaken  and  routed  by  Torstensohn,  near  Juter- 
bock ;  the  rest  of  the  army,  after  a  vain  attempt  to  fight 
its  way  through  the  Swedish  lines,  was  almost  wholly 
destroyed  near  Magdeburg.  From  this  expedition  Gallas 
brought  back  only  a  few  thousand  men  of  all  his  formid- 
able force,  and  the  reputation  of  being  a  consummate 
master  in  the  art  of  ruining  an  army.  The  King  of 
Denmark  after  this  unsuccessful  effort  to  relieve  him  sued 
for  peace,  which  he  obtained  at  Bremsebor  in  the  year 
1645  under  very  unfavorable  conditions. 

Torstensohn  rapidly  followed  up  his  victory ;  and  while 
Axel  Lilienstern,  one  of  the  generals  who  commanded 
under  him,  overawed  Saxony,  and  Koenigsmark  subdued 


362  THE   THIKTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

the  whole  of  Bremen,  he  himself  penetrated  into  Bohemia 
with  sixteen  thousand  men  and  eighty  pieces  of  artillery, 
and  endeavored  a  second  time  to  remove  the  seat  of  war 
into  the  hereditary  dominions  of  Austria.  Ferdinand,  upon 
this  intelligence,  hastened  in  person  to  Prague,  in  order 
to  animate  the  courage  of  the  people  by  his  presence  ;  and 
as  a  skilful  general  was  much  required,  and  so  little 
unanimity  prevailed  among  the  numerous  leaders,  he 
hoped  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  war  to  be 
able  to  give  more  energy  and  activity.  In  obedience  to 
his  orders  Hatzfeld  assembled  the  whole  Austrian  and 
Bavarian  force,  and,  contrary  to  his  own  inclination  and 
advice,  formed  the  Emperor's  last  army  and  the  last  bul- 
wark of  his  states  in  order  of  battle  to  meet  the  enemy, 
who  were  approaching,  at  Jankowitz,  on  the  24th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1645.  Ferdinand  depended  upon  his  cavalry, 
which  outnumbered  that  of  the  enemy  by  three  thousand, 
and  upon  the  promise  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  who  had 
appeared  to  him  in  a  dream,  and  given  him  the  strongest 
assurances  of  a  complete  victory. 

The  superiority  of  the  Imperialists  did  not  intimidate 
Torstensohn,  who  was  not  accustomed  to  number  his 
antagonists.  On  the  very  first  onset  the  left  wing,  which 
Goetz,  the  general  of  the  League,  had  entangled  in  a 
disadvantageous  position  among  marshes  and  thickets, 
was  totally  routed  ;  the  general,  with  the  greater  part  of 
his  men,  killed,  and  almost  the  whole  ammunition  of  the 
army  taken.  This  unfortunate  commencement  decided 
the  fate  of  the  day.  The  Swedes  constantly  advancing 
successively  carried  all  the  most  commanding  heights. 
After  a  bloody  engagement  of  eight  hours,  a  desperate 
attack  on  the  part  of  the  imperial  cavalry,  and  a  vig- 
orous resistance  by  the  Swedish  infantry,  the  latter  re- 
mained in  possession  of  the  field.  Two  thousand  Aus- 
trians  were  killed  upon  the  spot,  and  Hatzfeld  himself, 
with  three  thousand  men,  taken  prisoners.  Thus  on  the 
same  day  did  the  Emperor  lose  his  best  general  and  his 
last  army. 

This  decisive  victory  at  Jankowitz  at  once  exposed  all 
the  Austrian  territory  to  the  enemy.  Ferdinand  hastily 
fled  to  Vienna,  to  provide  for  its  defence  and  to  save  his: 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR.  363 

family  and  his  treasures.  In  a  very  short  time  the  vic- 
torious Swedes  poured  like  an  inundation  upon  Moravia 
and  Austria.  After  they  had  subdued  nearly  the  whole 
of  Moravia,  invested  Brunn,  and  taken  all  the  strong- 
holds as  far  as  the  Danube,  and  carried  the  intrenchments 
at  the  Wolfs  bridge,  near  Vienna,  they  at  last  appeared 
in  sight  of  that  capital,  while 'the  care  which  they  had 
taken  to  fortify  their  conquests  showed  that  their  visit 
was  not  likely  to  be  a  short  one.  After  ,a  long  and 
destructive  circuit  through  every  province  of  Germany 
the  stream  of  war  had  at  last  rolled  backwards  to  its 
source,  and  the  roar  of  the  Swedish  artillery  now  reminded 
the  terrified  inhabitants  of  those  balls  which,  twenty- 
seven  years  before,  the  Bohemian  rebels  had  fired  into 
Vienna.  The  same  theatre  of  war  brought  again  similar 
actors  on  the  scene.  Torstensohn  invited  Ragotsky,  the 
successor  of  Bethlen  Gabor,  to  his  assistance,  as  the 
Bohemian  rebels  had  solicited  that  of  his  predecessor ; 
Upper  Hungary  was  already  inundated  by  his  troops, 
and  his  union  with  the  Swedes  was  daily  apprehended. 
The  Elector  of  Saxony,  driven  to  despair  by  the  Swedes 
taking  up  their  quarters  within  his  territories,  and 
abandoned  by  the  Emperor,  who,  after  the  defeat  at 
Jankowitz,  was  unable  to  defend  himself,  at  length 
adopted  the  last  and  only  expedient  which  remained,  and 
concluded  a  truce  with  Sweden,  which  was  renewed  from 
year  to  year  till  the  general  peace.  The  Emperor  thus 
lost  a  friend,  while  a  new  enemy  was  appearing  at  his 
very  gates,  his  armies  dispersed,  and  his  allies  in  other 
quarters  of  Germany  defeated.  The  French  army  had 
effaced  the  disgrace  of  their  defeat  at  Duttlingen  by  a 
brilliant  campaign,  and  had  kept  the  whole  force  of 
Bavaria  employed  upon  the  Rhine  and  in  Swabia.  Rein- 
forced with  fresh  troops  from  France,  which  the  great 
Turenne,  already  distinguished  by  his  victories  in  Italy, 
brought  to  the  assistance  of  the  Duke  of  Enghien,  they 
appeared  on  the  3d  of  August,  1644,  before  Fribourg, 
which  Mercy  had  lately  taken  and  now  covered  with  his 
whole  army  strongly  intrenched.  But  against  the  steady 
firmness  of  the  Bavarians  all  the  impetuous  valor  of  the 
French  was  exerted  in  vain,  and  after  a  fruitless  sacrifice  of 


364  THE   THIRTY  YEARS*    WAR. 

six  thousand  men,  the  Duke  of  Enghien  was  compelled 
to  retreat.  Mazarin  shed  tears  over  this  great  loss,  which 
Conde,  who  had  no  feeling  for  anything  but  glory,  dis- 
regarded. "  A  single  night  in  Paris,"  said  he,  "  gives 
birth  to  more  men  than  this  action  has  destroyed."  The 
Bavarians,  however,  were  so  disabled  by  this  murderous 
battle  that,  far  from  being  in  a  condition  to  relieve  Aus- 
tria from  the  menaced  dangers,  they  were  too  weak  even 
to  defend  the  banks  of  the  Rhine.  Spires,  Worms,  and 
Manheim  capitulated ;  the  strong  fortress  of  Philipsburg 
was  forced  to  surrender  by  famine  ;  and  by  a  timely  sub- 
mission Mentz  hastened  to  disarm  the  conquerors. 

Austria  and  Moravia,  however,  were  now  freed  from 
Torstensohn,  by  a  similar  means  of  deliverance  as  in  the 
beginning  of  the  war  had  saved  them  from  the  Bohemians. 
Ragotzky,  at  the  head  of  twenty-five  thousand  men,  had 
advanced  into  the  neighborhood  of  the  Swedish  quarters 
upon  the  Danube.  But  these  wild,  undisciplined  hordes, 
instead  of  seconding  the  operations  of  Torstensohn  by  any 
vigorous  enterprise,  only  ravaged  the  country,  and  in- 
creased the  distress  which,  even  before  their  arrival,  had 
begun  to  be  felt  in  the  Swedish  camp.  To  extort  tribute 
from  the  Emperor,  and  money  and  plunder  from  his 
subjects,  was  the  sole  object  that  had  allured  Ragotzky, 
or  his  predecessor,  Bethlen  Gabor,  into  the  field ;  and 
both  departed  as  soon  as  they  had  gained  their  end.  To 
get  rid  of  him,  Ferdinand  granted  the  barbarian  whatever 
he  asked,  and,  by  a  small  sacrifice,  freed  his  states  of  this 
formidable  enemy. 

In  the  meantime  the  main  body  of  the  Swedes  had 
been  greatly  weakened  by  a  tedious  encampment  before 
Brunn.  Torstensohn,  who  commanded  in  person,  for  four 
entire  months  employed  in  vain  all  his  knowledge  of  mili- 
tary tactics  ;  the  obstinacy  of  the  resistance  was  equal  to 
that  of  the  assault ;  while  despair  roused  the  courage  of 
Souches,  the  commandant,  a  Swedish  deserter,  who  had 
no  hope  of  pardon.  The  ravages  caused  by  pestilence, 
arising  from  famine,  want  of  cleanliness,  and  the  use  of 
unripe  fruit,  during  their  tedious  and  unhealthy  encamp- 
ment, with  the  sudden  retreat  of  the  Prince  of  Tran- 
sylvania, at  last  compelled  the  Swedish  leader  to  raise 


THE   THIRTY   YEARS*  WAR.  365 

the  siege.  As  all  the  passes  upon  the  Danube  were 
occupied,  and  his  army  greatly  weakened  by  famine  and 
sickness,  he  at  last  relinquished  his  intended  plan  of 
operations  against  Austria  and  Moravia,  and  contented 
himself  with  securing  a  key  to  these  provinces  by  leaving 
behind  him  Swedish  garrisons  in  the  conquered  fortresses. 
He  then  directed  his  march  into  Bohemia,  whither  he  was 
followed  by  the  Imperialists  under  the  Archduke  Leopold. 
Such  of  the  lost  places  as  had  not  been  retaken  by  the 
latter  were  recovered  after  his  departure  by  the  Austrian 
General  Bucheim  ;  so  that  in  the  course  of  the  following 
year  the  Austrian  frontier  was  again  cleared  of  the  enemy, 
and  Vienna  escaped  with  mere  alarm.  In  Bohemia  and 
Silesia,  too,  the  Swedes  maintained  themselves  only  with 
a  very  variable  fortune ;  they  traversed  both  countries 
without  being  able  to  hold  their  ground  in  either.  But 
if  the  designs  of  Torstensohn  were  not  crowned  with  all 
the  success  which  they  were  promised  at  the  commence- 
ment, they  were,  nevertheless,  productive  of  the  most 
important  consequences  to  the  Swedish  party.  Den- 
mark had  been  compelled  to  a  peace,  Saxony  to  a  truce. 
The  Emperor,  in  the  deliberations  for  a  peace,  offered 
greater  concessions ;  France  became  more  manageable ; 
and  Sweden  itself  bolder  and  more  confident  in  its  bearing 
towards  these  two  crowns.  Having  thus  nobly  performed 
his  duty,  the  author  of  these  advantages  retired,  adorned 
with  laurels,  into  the  tranquillity  of  private  life,  and 
endeavored  to  restore  his  shattered  health. 

By  the  retreat  of  Torstensohn  the  Emperor  was  relieved 
from  all  fears  of  an  irruption  on  the  side  of  Bohemia. 
But  a  new  danger  soon  threatened  the  Austrian  frontier 
from  Swabia  and  Bavaria.  Turenne,  who  had  separated 
from  Conde  and  taken  the  direction  of  Swabia,  had,  in 
the  year  1645,  been  totally  defeated  by  Mercy  near  Mer- 
gentheira  ;  and  the  victorious  Bavarians,  under  their  brave 
leader,  poured  into  Hesse.  But  the  Duke  of  Enghien 
hastened  with  considerable  succors  from  Alsace,  Koenigs- 
mark  from  Moravia,  and  the  Hessians  from  the  Rhine,  to 
recruit  the  defeated  army,  and  the  Bavarians  were  in 
turn  compelled  to  retire  to  the  extreme  limits  of  Swabia. 
Here  they  posted  themselves  at  the  village  of  Allersheim, 


366  THE   THIRTY  YEARS'   WAR. 

near  Nordlingen,  in  order  to  cover  the  Bavarian  frontier. 
But  no  obstacle  could  check  the  impetuosity  of  the  Duke 
of  Enghien.  In  person  he  led  on  his  troops  against  the 
enemy's  intrenchments,  and  a  battle  took  place  which 
the  heroic  resistance  of  the  Bavarians  rendered  most 
obstinate  and  bloody ;  till  at  last  the  death  of  the  great 
Mercy,  the  skill  of  Turenne,  and  the  iron  firmness  of  the 
Hessians  decided  the  day  in  favor  of  the  allies.  But  even 
this  second  barbarous  sacrifice  of  life  had  little  effect 
either  on  the  course  of  the  war  or  on  the  negotiations  for 
peace.  The  French  army,  exhausted  by  this  bloody 
engagement,  was  still  further  weakened  by  the  departure 
of  the  Hessians,  and  the  Bavarians  being  reinforced  by 
the  Archduke  Leopold,  Turenne  was  again  obliged  hastily 
to  recross  the  Rhine. 

The  retreat  of  the  French  enabled  the  enemy  to  turn 
his  whole  force  upon  the  Swedes  in  Bohemia.  Gustavus 
Wrangel,  no  unworthy  successor  of  Banner  and  Torsten- 
sohn  had,  in  1646,  been  appointed  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Swedish  army,  which,  besides  Koenigsmark's  flying 
corps  and  the  numerous  garrisons  dispersed  throughout 
the  empire,  amounted  to  about  eight  thousand  horse  and 
fifteen  thousand  foot.  The  archduke,  after  reinforcing 
his  army,  which  already  amounted  to  twenty-four  thou- 
sand men,  with  twelve  Bavarian  regiments  of  cavalry  and 
eighteen  regiments  of  infantry,  moved  against  Wrangel  in 
the  hope  of  being  able  to  overwhelm  him  by  his  superior 
force  before  Koenigsmark  could  join  him,  or  the  French 
effect  a  diversion  in  his  favor.  Wrangel,  however,  did 
not  await  him,  but  hastened  through  Upper  Saxony  to 
the  Weser,  where  he  took  Hoester  and  Paderborn.  From 
thence  he  marched  into  Hesse  in  order  to  join  Turenne, 
and  at  his  camp  at  Wetzlar  was  joined  by  the  flying  corps 
of  Koenigsmark.  But  Turenne,  fettered  by  the  instruc- 
tions of  Mazarin,  who  had  seen  with  jealousy  the  warlike 
prowess  and  increasing  power  of  the  Swedes,  excused 
himself  on  the  plea  of  a  pressing  necessity  to  defend  the 
frontier  of  France  on  the  side  of  the  Netherlands  in  con- 
sequence of  the  Flemings  having  failed  to  make  the 
promised  diversion.  But  as  Wrangel  continued  to  press 
his  just  demand,  and  a  longer  opposition  might  have 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  367 

excited  distrust  on  the  part  of  the  Swedes,  or  induce  them 
to  conclude  a  private  treaty  with  Austria,  Turenne  at  last 
obtained  the  wished-for  permission  to  join  the  Swedish 
army. 

The  junction  took  place  at  Giessen,  and  they  now  felt 
themselves  strong  enough  to  meet  the  enemy.  The  latter 
had  followed  the  Swedes  into  Hesse  in  order  to  inter- 
cept their  commissariat  and  to  prevent  their  union  with 
Turenne.  In  both  designs  they  had  been  unsuccessful ; 
and  the  Imperialists  now  saw  themselves  cut  off  from  the 
Maine  and  exposed  to  great  scarcity  and  want  from 
the  loss  of  their  magazines.  Wrangel  took  advantage  of 
their  weakness  to  execute  a  plan  by  which  he  hoped  to 
give  a  new  turn  to  the  war.  He,  too,  had  adopted  the 
maxim  of  his  predecessor,  to  carry  the  war  into  the 
Austrian  States.  But  discouraged  by  the  ill-success  of 
Torstensohn's  enterprise,  he  hoped  to  gain  his  end  with 
more  certainty  by  another  way.  He  determined  to  fol- 
low the  course  of  the  Danube,  and  to  break  into  the 
Austrian  territories  through  the  midst  of  Bavaria.  A 
similar  design  had  been  formerly  conceived  by  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  which  he  had  been  prevented  carrying  into 
effect  by  the  approach  of  Wallenstein's  army  and  the 
danger  of  Saxony.  Duke  Bernard  moving  in  his  foot- 
steps, and  more  fortunate  than  Gustavus,  had  spread  his 
victorious  banners  between  the  Iser  and  the  Inn ;  but  the 
near  approach  of  the  enemy,  vastly  superior  in  force, 
obliged  him  to  halt  in  his  victorious  career,  and  lead  back 
his  troops.  Wrangel  now  hoped  to  accomplish  the  object 
in  which  his  predecessors  had  failed,  the  more  so  as  the 
Imperial  and  Bavarian  army  was  far  in  his  rear  upon  the 
Lahn,  and  could  only  reach  Bavaria  by  a  long  march 
through  Francoma  and  the  Upper  Palatinate.  He  moved 
hastily  upon  the  Danube,  defeated  a  Bavarian  corps  near 
Donauwerth,  and  passed  that  river,  as  well  as  the  Lech, 
unopposed.  But  by  wasting  his  time  in  the  unsuccessful 
siege  of  Augsburg,  he  gave  opportunity  to  the  Imperialists 
not  only  to  relieve  that  city,  but  also  to  repulse  him  as 
far  as  Lauingen.  No  sooner,  however,  had  they  turned 
towards  Swabia  with  a  view  to  remove  the  war  from 
Bavaria,  than,  seizing  the  opportunity,  he  repassed  the 


368  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

Lech,  and  guarded  the  passage  of  it  against  the  Imperial- 
ists themselves.  Bavaria  now  lay  open  and  defenceless 
before  him ;  the  French  and  Swedes  quickly  overran  it ; 
and  the  soldiery  indemnified  themselves  for  all  dangers 
by  frightful  outrages,  robberies,  and  extortions.  The 
arrival  of  the  imperial  troops,  who  at  last  succeeded  in 
passing  the  Lech  at  Thierhaupten,  only  increased  the 
misery  of  this  country,  which  friend  and  foe  indiscrimi- 
nately plundered. 

And  now  for  the  first  time  during  the  whole  course  of 
this  war  the  courage  of  Maximilian,  which  for  eight-and- 
twenty  years  had  stood  unshaken  amidst  fearful  dangers, 
began  to  waver.  Ferdinand  II.,  his  school-companion  at 
Ingoldstadt,  and  the  friend  of  his  youth,  was  no  more, 
and  with  the  death  of  his  friend  and  benefactor  the 
strong  tie  was  dissolved  which  had  linked  the  Elector  to 
the  House  of  Austria.  To  the  father,  habit,  inclination, 
and  gratitude  had  attached  him ;  the  son  was  a  stranger 
to  his  heart,  and  political  interests  alone  could  preserve 
his  fidelity  to  the  latter  prince. 

Accordingly  the  motives  which  the  artifices  of  France 
now  put  in  operation  in  order  to  detach  him  from  the 
Austrian  alliance,  and  to  induce  him  to  lay  down  his 
arms,  were  drawn  entirely  from  political  considerations. 
It  was  not  without  a  selfish  object  that  Mazarin  had  so 
far  overcome  his  jealousy  of  the  growing  power  of  the 
Swedes  as  to  allow  the  French  to  accompany  them  into 
Bavaria.  His  intention  was  to  expose  Bavaria  to  all  the 
horrors  of  war,  in  the  hope  that  the  persevering  fortitude 
of  Maximilian  might  be  subdued  by  necessity  and  de- 
spair, and  the  Emperor  deprived  of  his  first  and  last  ally. 
Brandenburg  had  under  its  great  sovereign  embraced  the 
neutrality ;  Saxony  had  been  forced  to  accede  to  it ;  the 
war  with  France  prevented  the  Spaniards  from  taking 
any  part  in  that  of  Germany ;  the  peace  with  Sweden 
had  removed  Denmark  from  the  theatre  of  war;  and 
Poland  had  been  disarmed  by  a  long  truce.  If  they 
could  succeed  in  detaching  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  also 
from  the  Austrian  alliance  the  Emperor  would  be  with- 
out a  friend  in  Germany  and  left  to  the  mercy  of  the 
allied  powers. 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  369 

Ferdinand  III.  saw  his  danger  and  left  no  means  un- 
tried to  avert  it.  But  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  was  unfor- 
tunately led  to  believe  that  the  Spaniards  alone  were 
disinclined  to  peace,  and  that  nothing  but  Spanish  influ- 
ence had  induced  the  Emperor  so  long  to  resist  a  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities.  Maximilian  detested  the  Spaniards, 
and  could  never  forgive  their  having  opposed  his  applica- 
tion for  the  Palatine  Electorate.  Could  it  then  be  sup- 
posed that,  in  order  to  gratify  this  hated  power,  he 
would  see  his  people  sacrificed,  his  country  laid  waste, 
and  himself  ruined,  when,  by  a  cessation  of  hostilities, 
he  could  at  once  emancipate  himself  from  all  these  dis- 
tresses, procure  for  his  people  the  repose  of  which  they 
stood  so  .much  in  need,  and  perhaps  accelerate  the  arrival 
of  a  general  peace?  All  doubts  disappeared;  and,  con- 
vinced of  the  necessity  of  this  step,  he  thought  he  should 
sufficiently  discharge  his  obligations  to  the  Emperor  if 
he  invited  him  also  to  share  in  the  benefit  of  the  truce. 

The  deputies  of  the  three  crowns,  and  of  Bavaria,  met 
at  Ulm  to  adjust  the  conditions.  But  it  was  soon  evi- 
dent from  the  instructions  of  the  Austrian  ambassadors 
that  it  was  not  the  intention  of  the  Emperor  to  second 
the  conclusion  of  a  truce,  but  if  possible  to  prevent  it. 
It  was  obviously  necessary  to  make  the  terms  acceptable 
to  the  Swedes,  who  had  the  advantage,  and  had  more  to 
hope  than  to  fear  from  the  continuance  of  the  war. 
They  were  the  conquerors;  and  yet  the  Emperor  pre- 
sumed to  dictate  to  them.  In  the  first  transports  of 
their  indignation  the  Swedish  ambassadors  were  on  the 
point  of  leaving  the  congress,  and  the  French  were 
obliged  to  have  recourse  to  threats  in  order  to  detain 
them. 

The  good  intentions  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  to  in- 
clude the  Emperor  in  the  benefit  of  the  truce  having 
been  thus  rendered  unavailing,  he  felt  himself  justified 
in  providing  for  his  own  safety.  However  hard  were 
the  conditions  on  which  the  truce  was  to  be  purchased, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  accept  it  on  any  terms.  He  agreed 
to  the  Swedes  extending  their  quarters  in  Swabia  and 
Franconia,  and  to  his  own  being  restricted  to  Bavaria 
and  the  Palatinate.  The  conquests  which  he  had  made 


370  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

in  Swabia  were  ceded  to  the  allies,  who,  on  their  part, 
restored  to  him  what  they  had  taken  from  Bavaria. 
Cologne  and  Hesse  Cassel  were  also  included  in  the 
truce.  After  the  conclusion  of  this  treaty,  upon  the 
14th  March,  1647,  the  French  and  Swedes  left  Bavaria, 
and  in  order  not  to  interfere  with  each  other,  took  up 
different  quarters,  the  former  in  Wurtemburg,  the  latter 
in  Upper  Swabia,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Lake  of 
Constance.  On  the  extreme  north  of  this  lake,  and  on 
the  most  southern  frontier  of  Swabia,  the  Austrian  town 
of  Bregentz,  by  its  steep  and  narrow  passes,  seemed  to 
defy  attack;  and  in  this  persuasion  the  whole  peasantry 
of  the  surrounding  villages  had,  with  their  property, 
taken  refuge  in  this  natural  fortress.  The  rich  booty 
which  the  store  of  provisions  it  contained  gave  reason  to 
expect,  and  the  advantage  of  possessing  a  pass  into  the 
Tyrol,  Switzerland,  and  Italy,  induced  the  Swedish  gen- 
eral to  venture  an  attack  upon  this  supposed  impregnable 
post  and  town,  in  which  he  succeeded.  Meantime, 
Turenne,  according  to  agreement,  marched  into  Wur- 
temburg, where  he  forced  the  Landgrave  of  Darmstadt 
and  the  Elector  of  Mentz  to  imitate  the  example  of  Ba- 
varia, and  to  embrace  the  neutrality. 

And  now  at  last  P" ranee  seemed  to  have  attained  the 
great  object  of  its  policy,  that  of  depriving  the  Emperor 
of  the  support  of  the  League  and  of  his  Protestant 
allies,  and  of  dictating  to  him,  sword  in  hand,  the  con- 
ditions of  peace.  Of  all  his  once  formidable  power  an 
army  not  exceeding  twelve  thousand. was  all  that  re- 
mained to  him  ;  and  this  force  he  was  driven  to  the  neces- 
sity of  entrusting  to  the  command  of  a  Calvinist,  the 
Hessian  deserter,  Melander,  as  the  casualties  of  war  had 
stripped  him  of  his  best  generals.  But  as  this  war  had 
been  remarkable  for  the  sudden  changes  of  fortune  it 
displayed,  and  as  every  calculation  of  state  policy  had 
been  frequently  baffled  by  some  unforeseen  event,  in  this 
case  also  the  issue  disappointed  expectation  ;  and  after  a 
brief  crisis  the  fallen  power  of  Austria  rose  again  to  a  for- 
midable strength.  The  jealousy  Avhich  France  entertained 
of  Sweden  prevented  it  from  permitting  the  total  ruin  of 
the  Emperor,  or  allowing  the  Swedes  to  obtain  such  a 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  371 

preponderance  in  Germany  as  might  have  been  destruc- 
tive to  France  herself.  Accordingly  the  French  minister 
declined  to  take  advantage  of  the  distresses  of  Austria; 
and  the  army  of  Turenne,  separating  from  that  of 
Wrangel,  retired  to  the  frontier  of  the  Netherlands. 
Wrangel,  indeed,  after  moving  from  Swabia  into  Fran- 
conia,  taking  Sell  \veinfurt,  and  incorporating  the  imperial 
garrison  of  that  place  with  his  own  army,  attempted  to 
make  his  way  into  Bohemia,  and  laid  siege  to  Egra,  the 
key  of  that  kingdom.  To  relieve  this  fortress  the 
Emperor  put  his  last  army  into  motion,  and  placed  him- 
self at  his  head.  But  obliged  to  take  a  long  circuit,  in 
order  to  spare  the  lands  of  Von  Schlick,  the  president  of 
the  council  of  war,  he  protracted  his  march ;  and  on  his 
arrival  Egra  was  already  taken.  Both  armies  were  now 
in  sight  of  each  other,  and  a  decisive  battle  was  moment- 
arily expected,  as  both  were  suffering  from  want,  and 
the  two  camps  were  only  separated  from  each  other  by 
the  space  of  the  intrenchments.  But  the  Imperialists, 
although  superior  in  numbers,  contented  themselves  with 
keeping  close  to  the  enemy,  and  harassing  them  by 
skirmishes,  by  fatiguing  marches  and  famine,  until  the 
negotiations  which  had  been  opened  with  Bavaria  were 
brought  to  a  bearing. 

The  neutrality  of  Bavaria  was  a  wound  under  which 
the  imperial  court  writhed  impatiently,  and  after  in  vain 
attempting  to  prevent  it,  Austria  now  determined,  if 
possible,  to  turn  it  to  advantage.  Several  officers  of  the 
Bavarian  army  had  been  offended  by  this  step  of  their 
master,  which  at  once  reduced  them  to  inaction,  and 
imposed  a  burdensome  restraint  on  their  restless  disposi- 
tions. Even  the  brave  John  de  Werth  was  at  the  head  of 
the  malcontents,  and,  encouraged  by  the  Emperor,  he 
formed  a  plot  to  seduce  the  whole  army  from  their  alle- 
giance to  the  Elector  and  lead  it  over,  to  the  Emperor. 
Ferdinand  did  not  blush  to  patronize  this  act  of  treachery 
against  his  father's  most  trusty  ally.  He  formally  issued 
a  proclamation  to  the  Bavarian  troops,  in  which  he 
recalled  them  to  himself,  reminded  them  that  they  were 
the  troops  of  the  Empire,  which  the  Elector  had  merely 
commanded  in  name  of  the  Emperor.  Fortunately  for 


372  THE    THIRTY    YEARS'    WAR. 

Maximilian  he  detected  the  conspiracy  time  enough  to 
anticipate  and  prevent  it  by  the  most  rapid  and  effective 
measures. 

This  disgraceful  conduct  of  the  Emperor  might  have 
justified  a  reprisal,  but  Maximilian  was  too  old  a  states- 
man to  listen  to  the  voice  of  passion  where  policy  alone 
ought  to  be  heard.  He  had  not  derived  from  the  truce 
the  advantages  he  expected.  Far  from  tending  to  accele- 
rate a  general  peace,  it  had  a  pernicious  influence  upon 
the  negotiations  at  Miinster  and  Osnaburg,  and  had  made 
the  allies  bolder  in  their  demands.  The  French  and 
Swedes  had  indeed  removed  from  Bavaria ;  but  by  the 
loss  of  his  quarters  in  the  Swabian  circle  he  found  himself 
compelled  either  to  exhaust  his  own  territories  by  the 
subsistence  of  his  troops,  or  at  once  to  disband  them  and 
throw  aside  the  shield  and  spear  at  the  very  moment 
when  the  sword  alone  seemed  to  be  the  arbiter  of  right. 
Before  embracing  either  of  these  certain  evils  he  deter- 
mined to  try  a  third  step,  the  unfavorable  issue  of  which 
was,  at  least,  not  so  uncertain,  viz.,  to  renounce  the  truce 
and  resume  the  war. 

This  resolution,  and  the  assistance  which  he  imme- 
diately dispatched  to  the  Empei'or  in  Bohemia,  threat- 
ened materially  to  injure  the  Swedes,  and  Wr angel  was 
compelled  in  haste  to  evacuate  that  kingdom.  He  retired 
through  Thuringia  into  Westphalia  and  Lunenburg,  in 
the  hope  of  forming  a  junction  with  the  French  army 
under  Turenne,  while  the  Imperial  and  Bavarian  army 
followed  him  to  the  Weser,  under  Melander  and  Gronsfeld. 
His  ruin  was  inevitable  if  the  enemy  should  overtake  him 
before  his  junction  with  Turenne ;  but  the  same  con- 
sideration which  had  just  saved  the  Emperor  now 
proved  the  salvation  of  the  Swedes.  Even  amidst  all 
the  fury  of  the  conquest  cold  calculations  of  prudence 
guided  the  course  of  the  war,  and  the  vigilance  of  the 
different  courts  increased  as  the  prospect  of  peace  ap- 
proached. The  Elector  of  Bavaria  could  not  allow  the 
Emperor  to  obtain  so  decisive  a  preponderance  as  by  the 
sudden  alteration  of  affairs  might  delay  the  chances  of  a 
general  peace.  Every  change  of  fortune  was  important 
now,  when  a  pacification  was  so  ardently  desired  by  all,  and 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS'   WAR.  373 

when  the  disturbance  of  the  balance  of  power  among  the 
contracting  parties  might  at  once  annihilate  the  work  of 
years,  destroy  the  fruit  of  long  and  tedious  negotiations, 
and  indefinitely  protract  the  repose  of  Europe.  If  France 
sought  to  restrain  the  Swedish  crown  within  due  bounds, 
and  measured  out  her  assistance  according  to  her  suc- 
cesses and  defeats,  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  silently  under- 
took the  same  task  with  the  Emperor,  his  ally,  and  deter- 
mined by  prudently  dealing  out  his  aid  to  hold  the  fate 
of  Austria  in  his  own  hands.  And  now  that  the  power 
of  the  Emperor  threatened  once  more  to  attain  a  dan- 
gerous superiority,  Maximilian  at  once  ceased  to  pur- 
sue the  Swedes.  He  was  also  afraid  of  reprisals  from 
France,  who  had  threatened  to  direct  Turenne's  whole 
force  against  him  if  he  allowed  his  troops  to  cross  the 
Weser. 

Melander,  prevented  by  the  Bavarians  from  further 
pursuing  Wrangel,  crossed  by  Jena  and  Erfurt  into 
Hesse,  and  now  appeared  as  a  dangerous  enemy  in  the 
country  which  he  had  formerly  defended.  If  it  was  the 
desire  of  revenge  upon  his  former  sovereign  which  led 
him  to  choose  Hesse  for  the  scene  of  his  ravage,  he  cer- 
tainly had  his  full  gratification.  Under  this  scourge  the 
miseries  of  that  unfortunate  state  reached  their  height. 
But  he  had  soon  reason  to  regret  that  in  the  choice  of  his 
quarters  he  had  listened  to  the  dictates  of  revenge  rather 
than  of  prudence.  In  this  exhausted  country  his  army 
was  oppressed  by  want,  while  Wrangel  wras  recruiting 
his  strength  and  remounting  his  cavalry  in  Lunenburg. 
Too  weak  to  maintain  his  wretched  quarters  against  the 
Swedish  general,  when  he  opened  the  campaign  in  the 
winter  of  1648,  and  marched  against  Hesse,  he  was 
obliged  to  retire  with  disgrace,  and  take  refuge  on  the 
banks  of  the  Danube. 

France  had  once  more  disappointed  the  expectations  of 
Sweden  ;  and  the  army  of  Turenne,  disregarding  the  re- 
monstrances of  Wrangel,  had  remained  upon  the  Rhine. 
The  Swedish  leader  revenged  himself  by  drawing  into 
his  service  the  cavalry  of  Weimar,  which  had  abandoned 
the  standard  of  France,  though  by  this  step  he  further 
increased  the  jealousy  of  that  power.  Turenne  received 


374  THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR. 

permission  to  join  the  Swedes  ;  and  the  last  campaign  of 
this  eventful  war  was  now  opened  by  the  united  armies. 
Driving  Melander  before  them  along  the  Danube,  they 
threw  supplies  into  Egra,  which  was  besieged  by  the  Im- 
perialists, and  defeated  the  Imperial  and  Bavarian  armies 
on  the  Danube,  which  ventured  to  oppose  them  at  Sus- 
marshausen,  where  Melander  was  mortally  wounded. 
After  this  overthrow,  the  Bavarian  general,  Gronsfeld, 
placed  himself  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Lech,  in  order 
to  guard  Bavaria  from  the  enemy. 

But  Gronsfeld  was  not  more  fortunate  than  Tilly,  who 
in  this  same  position  had  sacrificed  his  life  for  Bavaria. 
Wrangel  and  Turenne  chose  the  same  spot  for  passing  the 
river  which  was  so  gloriously  marked  by  the  victory  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  accomplished  it  by  the  same 
means,  too,  which  had  favored  their  predecessor.  Bavaria 
was  now  a  second  time  overrun,  and  the  breach  of  the 
truce  punished  by  the  severest  treatment  of  its  inhabitants. 
Maximilian  sought  shelter  in  Salzburg,  while  the  Swedes 
crossed  the  Iser,  and  forced  their  way  as  far  as  the  Inn. 
A  violent  and  continued  rain,  which  in  a  few  days  swelled 
this  inconsiderable  stream  into  a  broad  river,  saved 
Austria  once  more  from  the  threatened  danger.  The 
enemy  ten  times  attempted  to  form  a  bridge  of  boats 
over  the  Inn,  and  as  often  it  was  destroyed  by  the  current. 
Never,  during  the  whole  course  of  the  war,  had  the  Im- 
perialists been  in  so  great  consternation  as  at  present, 
when  the  enemy  were  in  the  centre  of  Bavaria,  and  when 
they  had  no  longer  a  general  left  who  could  be  matched 
against  a  Turenne,  a  Wrangel,  and  a  Koenigsmark.  At 
last  the  brave  Piccolomini  arrived  from  the  Netherlands 
to  assume  the  command  of  the  feeble  wreck  of  the  Im- 
perialists. By  their  own  ravage  in  Bohemia  the  allies 
had  rendered  their  subsistence  in  that  country  impracti- 
cable, and  were  at  last  driven  by  scarcity  to  retreat  into 
the  Upper  Palatinate,  where  the  news  of  the  peace  put  a 
period  to  their  activity. 

Koenigsmark,  with  his  flying  corps,  advanced  towards 
Bohemia,  where  Ernest  Odowalsky,  a  disbanded  captain, 
who,  after  being  disabled  in  the  imperial  service,  had  been 
dismissed  without  a  pension,  laid  before  him  a  plan  for 


THE    THIRTY   YEARS'   WAR.  375 

surprising  the  lesser  side  of  the  city  of  Prague.  Koenigs- 
mark  successfully  accomplished  the  bold  enterprise,  and 
acquired  the  reputation  of  closing  the  thirty  years'  war 
by  the  last  brilliant  achievement.  This  decisive  stroke, 
which  vanquished  the  Emperor's  irresolution,  cost  the 
Swedes  only  the  loss  of  a  single  man.  But  the  old  town, 
the  larger  half  of  Prague,  which  is  divided  into  two  parts 
by  the  Moldau,  by  its  vigorous  resistance  wearied  out  the 
efforts  of  the  Palatine,  Charles  Gustavus,  the  successor 
of  Christina  on  the  throne,  who  had  arrived  from  Sweden 
with  fresh  troops,  and  had  assembled  the  whole  Swedish 
force  in  Bohemia  and  Silesia  before  its  walls.  The 
approach  of  winter  at  last  drove  the  besiegers  into  their 
quarters,  and  in  the  meantime,  the  intelligence  arrived 
that  a  peace  had  been  signed  at  Munster,  on  the  24th 
October. 

The  colossal  labor  of  concluding  this  solemn,  and  ever- 
memorable  and  sacred  treaty,  which  is  known  by  the 
name  of  the  peace  of  Westphalia ;  the  endless  obstacles 
which  were  to  be  surmounted ;  the  contending  interests 
which  it  was  necessary  to  reconcile ;  the  concatenation  of 
circumstances  which  must  have  co-operated  to  bring  to  a 
favorable  termination  this  tedious,  but  precious  and  per- 
manent work  of  policy ;  the  difficulties  which  beset  the 
very  opening  of  the  negotiations,  and  maintaining  them, 
when  opened,  during  the  ever-fluctuating  vicissitudes  of 
the  war;  finally,  arranging  the  conditions  of  peace,  and, 
still  more,  the  carrying  them  into  effect ;  —  what  were  the 
conditions  of  this  peace ;  what  each  contending  power 
gained  or  lost,  by  the  toils  and  sufferings  of  a  thirty  years' 
war;  what  modification  it  wrought  upon  the  general 
system  of  European  policy;  —  these  are  matters  which 
must  be  relinquished  to  another  pen.  The  history  of  the 
peace  of  Westphalia  constitutes  a  whole,  as  important  as 
the  history  of  the  war  itself.  A  mere  abridgment  of  it 
would  reduce  to  a  mere  skeleton  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting and  characteristic  monuments  of  human  policy  and 
passions,  and  deprive  it  of  every  feature  calculated  to  fix 
the  attention  of  the  public,  for  which  I  write,  and  of 
which  I  now  respectfully  take  my  leave. 


